ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Demos

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what  (a) private meetings and  (b) public engagements Ministers in his Department have attended at which representatives from the think-tank Demos were present in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

Dan Norris: No DEFRA Ministers have had private meetings with representatives of Demos in the past 12 months. The Department does not keep a central record of everyone who may attend a public engagement attended by DEFRA Ministers.

Departmental Procurement

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much expenditure his Department incurred in respect of  (a) Creative Cooking (London) Ltd.,  (b) Leith's,  (c) Alliance Française de Londres Ltd,  (d) Tinklertastic and  (e) Canine Behaviour Centre in 2007-08; and for what purpose in each case.

Dan Norris: The core-Department's financial system records the following expenditure in 2009-08 for the organisations listed:
	
		
			  Organisation  Purpose  Value (£) 
			 Alliance Française de Londres Ltd. Language Tuition 882 
			 Canine Behaviour Centre Skills Training 217.50 
			 Creative Cooking (London) Ltd. Catering Services 1535.73 
			 Leith's Conference and Events Services 9913.33 
			 Tinklertastic Communications and Marketing Services 10,490.00

Fisheries

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will meet a delegation of inshore fishermen and fish merchants to discuss ways to enable fishing to continue when fish merchants are unable to report landing details within the required time.

Huw Irranca-Davies: The provisions to which the hon. Member refers form part of a proposal from the European Commission for a new control regulation which was published last November. The original proposal was for sales notes to be submitted electronically by all buyers within two hours of sale. We have sought stakeholders' views on this and all other aspects of the proposal. In a revised proposal, recently published by the Commission after discussions with member states, the time limit for the submission of sales notes has been increased to six hours and an exemption has been provided from the need to submit sales notes electronically for businesses with an annual financial turnover in fisheries products of less than 200,000 euros. This revised proposal will be subject to further negotiation with member states and will not be adopted before October at the earliest. I would point out that failure by a buyer to comply with requirements relating to the submission of sales notes would not result in vessels being required to stop fishing.

Flood Control

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the number of people who have made up a flood kit; and what steps he is taking to encourage people to make up kits.

Huw Irranca-Davies: The Environment Agency has made no estimate of the number of people who have made up flood kits; however, their 'Preparing for a flood' guide encourages people to produce flood kits. This is available on the Environment Agency's website or from its Floodline call centre. Since March 2008, a copy has been sent to everyone who registers for the Environment Agency's free flood warning service.
	Since December 2007, the Environment Agency has distributed over 260,000 'Preparing for a flood' guides.

Olympic Games 2012

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many full-time equivalent members of staff in  (a) his Department and  (b) its associated public bodies are working on projects relating to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games; how many of them are working on (i) project management, (ii) legacy planning, (iii) project oversight and (iv) financial oversight; and what plans he has for future staffing levels in each case.

Dan Norris: The Department is currently applying 1.5 full-time equivalent members of staff to work on project management and on legacy planning for London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. This input is expected to rise over the coming years. Staff at the Environment Agency and Natural England are also involved in work related to the Games.

Tigers

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps his Department has taken to seek to ensure compliance with the decision taken at the last Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species conference in respect of the closing down of tiger farms.

Huw Irranca-Davies: At the 14(th) Conference of Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), Decision 14.69 was adopted calling on CITES Parties with intensive, commercial-scale tiger breeding operations (i) to implement measures to restrict their captive populations to a level supportive only to conserving wild tigers, and (ii) not to breed tigers for trade in their parts and derivatives.
	While Decision 14.69 does not set any deadlines, the 57(th) CITES Standing Committee meeting in July 2008 called for relevant Parties to submit progress reports for review by the Committee at its 58(th) meeting in July 2009. My Department subsequently participated in a working group established to provide guidance on Decision 14.69. CITES Notification 2008/059, issued in October 2008, clarified aspects of the Decision and requested that relevant Parties submit reports on progress by 28 February 2009. The subject will next be discussed at the 58(th) meeting of the CITES Standing Committee, of which the UK is a member, representing the European region.

Water Charges

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will publish a summary of representations he has received from members of the public on water rates in the last five years.

Huw Irranca-Davies: My Department has received a range of representations on water charges in the last five years. However, a substantive summary of these representations could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Water Companies: Carbon Emissions

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment Ofwat has made of the performance of water companies in reducing carbon dioxide emissions.

Huw Irranca-Davies: Ofwat published details of the water companies' greenhouse gas emissions in its report 'Service and delivery—performance of water companies in England and Wales 2007-08'.
	A copy of the report has been placed in the House of Commons Library.

ELECTORAL COMMISSION COMMITTEE

Electoral Registration

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission what steps the Electoral Commission is taking to increase levels of electoral registration in constituencies in which such levels are disproportionately low.

Gary Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that, following its first annual assessment of electoral registration officers' performance, the Commission will meet with the EROs from the 56 local authorities who did not meet one or more of the standards relating to the accuracy and completeness of electoral registers, to agree plans for improvement.
	The Commission further informs me that these plans will set out specific actions to be taken to improve performance at the 2009 annual canvass, covering such areas as house-to-house inquiries, ensuring appropriate project management, and staff training.

LEADER OF THE HOUSE

Members: Pensions

David Laws: To ask the Leader of the House if she will estimate the effect on future expenditure from the public purse of amending the parliamentary contributory pensions scheme to  (a) cap the Exchequer contribution at (i) 20 per cent. and (ii) 15 per cent. of payroll,  (b) move to a career average salary scheme,  (c) raise the pension age and time in line with the increase in the age of entitlement to the basic state pension,  (d) change accrual rate from 1/40th to 1/50th and  (e) raise the employee contribution by 1 per cent.; and if she will make a statement.

Barbara Keeley: When the Prime Minister asked the Review Body on Senior Salaries (SSRB) to conduct a review of the parliamentary pension arrangements, he asked it to consider the full range of options for reducing the Exchequer contribution. The SSRB launched its consultation on 8 June, inviting evidence from interested parties by 31 July. The Government are considering its evidence and will make an announcement in due course.

TRANSPORT

Biofuels

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Lewes of 22 May 2008,  Official Report, column 426W, on biofuels, whether he has had discussions with  (a) the European Commission and  (b) his counterparts in other EU member states on (i) the sustainability criteria for biofuels in (A) the renewable energy directive and (B) the fuel quality directive and (ii) the volume of biofuels required to meet (1) the renewable energy directive target and (2) the greenhouse gas savings of the fuel quality directive.

Sadiq Khan: The Department for Transport is exploring, in conjunction with UK stakeholders, a range of options for the treatment of biofuels with differing carbon savings, under both directives. We will also be setting out the projected volume of biofuel required to meet these directives, following consultation, in a National Action Plan by June 2010. As part of these processes my officials are in regular dialogue with the European Commission and other member states.

Bus Services: Concessions

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what estimate he has made of changes in levels of usage of bus services since the introduction of concessionary fares schemes in  (a) 2002 and  (b) 2008.

Sadiq Khan: holding answer 16 June 2009
	Table A is based on figures published today by the Department for Transport in Bus and Light Rail Statistics: Q1 2009, and shows the current estimates for bus journeys in England for each financial year since 2000-01.
	Over the period covered by the table there were three major changes in the concessionary fares scheme:
	June 2001: Statutory minimum bus concessionary fares were introduced in England. Local authorities had to offer a concession of at least half the single fare to women aged 60 and over, and men aged 65 and over.
	April 2006: Free concessionary bus travel within the local authority was introduced in England for disabled passengers and those aged 60 or over. Some authorities continued to fund travel into other areas or on other modes of transport in their area at their discretion.
	April 2008: Free off-peak local bus travel for older and eligible disabled people was extended nationally in England.
	
		
			  Table A: Bus journeys—England, 2000-01 to 2008-09 
			   Local bus journeys (million)  Year-on-year percentage change 
			 2000-01 3,842  
			 2001-02 3,881 1.0 
			 2002-03 3,964 2.1 
			 2003-04 4,087 3.1 
			 2004-05 4,140 1.3 
			 2005-06 4,196 1.3 
			 2006-07 4,470 6.5 
			 2007-08 4,530 1.3 
			 2008-09(1) 4,674 3.2 
			 (1) Provisional.  Source: Bus and Light Rail Statistics: Q1 2009

Carbon Sequestration: Finance

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport from which of his Department's budgets the £60 million reallocated to carbon capture and storage in the Budget 2009 Red Book will be drawn.

Sadiq Khan: The Department for Transport's contribution to the cost of carbon capture and storage will be funded from accumulated underspends, across our programmes as a whole, from prior years.

Channel Tunnel Railway Line

Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what recent assessment he has made of the effect of track access charges applicable to the track through the Channel Tunnel on the potential for growth in international rail freight; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Mole: holding answer 12 June 2009
	No recent assessment of the impact of track access charges on the potential growth of international freight through the Channel Tunnel has been made.

Diesel Fuel: EU Action

Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport whether a mechanism exists for EU member states to seek a temporary derogation from the EU sulphur specification for diesel fuel; and if he will make a statement.

Sadiq Khan: EU requirements on the quality of petrol and diesel are defined in the Fuel Quality Directive 98/70/EC as amended. Article 7 of this directive permits member states to apply for a derogation from these requirements for up to 6 months in the event that a sudden change to the supply of crude oil or petroleum products makes it difficult for refineries to comply.
	We understand this derogation to be intended to accommodate major, unexpected disruptions to oil supplies only. The directive does not contain any other derogations which could be applied in respect of the supply of sulphur-free diesel in the UK.

Integrated Transport

Gordon Banks: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what plans he has for the development of an integrated transport system.

Sadiq Khan: The Government are committed to promoting an integrated transport system through measures such as improved interchange, better passenger information and smarter ticketing.

Members: Correspondence

Michael Spicer: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport when he plans to reply to the letter from the hon. Member for West Worcestershire of 30 April 2009, transferred from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, reference: 134438/SW on ecodiesel.

Sadiq Khan: I replied to the hon. Member for West Worcestershire in my letter dated 12 June 2009.

Olympic Games 2012

Don Foster: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many full-time equivalent members of staff in  (a) his Department and  (b) its associated public bodies are working on projects relating to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games; how many of them are working on (i) project management, (ii) legacy planning, (iii) project oversight and (iv) financial oversight; and what plans he has for future staffing levels in each case.

Sadiq Khan: The Department for Transport has 9.25 full-time equivalent members of staff whose work relates wholly to the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games. Many other members of staff in the Department and its agencies are also contributing to delivery of the Government's objectives for the 2012 Games.

Roads: East of England

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport 
	(1)  how much funding his Department allocated for the construction of highways in  (a) Mid-Bedfordshire constituency and  (b) the East of England in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  how much funding his Department allocated for the creation of additional lanes on highways in  (a) Mid-Bedfordshire constituency and  (b) the East of England region in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement.

Sadiq Khan: The following tables highlight how much funding the Department for Transport has allocated for the construction of highways and the creation of additional lanes on highways in  (a) Mid-Bedfordshire constituency and  (b) the East of England Region in each year since 1997:
	
		
			  Table 1:  Mid- Bedfordshire 
			  £ million 
			   Highways agency schemes  Local major road schemes (including maintenance) 
			 1997-2001 0.0 0.255 
			 2001-02 0.0 1.400 
			 2002-03 0.0 3.930 
			 2003-04 1.0 1.665 
			 2004-05 5.1 0.175 
			 2005-06 12.2 0.0 
			 2006-07 25.3 8.825 
			 2007-08 21.5 7.505 
			 2008-09 41.2 2.547 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: East of England (including Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk, Suffolk and Thurrock) 
			  £ million 
			   Highways agency schemes  Local major road schemes (including maintenance) 
			 1997-2001 40.7 2.602 
			 2001-02 47.63 13.930 
			 2002-03 153.3 13.267 
			 2003-04 72.5 13.953 
			 2004-05 48.5 35.908 
			 2005-06 122.6 31.026 
			 2006-07 180.8 32.170 
			 2007-08 161.7 9.655 
			 2008-09 166.5 9.376

Transport: East of England

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport 
	(1)  how much funding his Department has allocated for the construction of bus lanes in  (a) Mid-Bedfordshire constituency and  (b) the East of England in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  how much funding his Department has allocated for the construction of bicycle paths in  (a) Mid- Bedfordshire constituency and  (b) the East of England in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  how much funding his Department has allocated for the construction of footpaths in  (a) Mid-Bedfordshire constituency and  (b) the East of England in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement.

Sadiq Khan: The Department for Transport allocates integrated transport block and highways maintenance funding to local transport authorities for capital investment in transport. Funding provided by the Department to local authorities is not generally ring-fenced and local authorities have discretion to spend their allocations in line with their priorities, which may include bicycle paths, bus lanes and footpaths. Allocations provided to Bedfordshire and the Eastern Region since 1997 are shown in the table.
	
		
			  £ million 
			   Bedfordshire  Eastern region 
			 2008-09 9.286 157.771 
			 2007-08 7.751 159.476 
			 2006-07 9.573 157.826 
			 2005-06 9.351 156.899 
			 2004-05 8.001 156.586 
			 2003-04 7.364 141.735 
			 2002-03 6.591 140.193 
			 2001-02 7.147 137.774 
			 2000-01 4.017 56.608 
			 1999-2000 4.602 52.125 
			 1998-99 3.070 32.150 
			 1997-98 3.692 41.203 
			  Note: Since 2000 the allocations comprise integrated transport block grant and highways maintenance. Prior to 2000 the allocations are in the form of gross approved spending. 
		
	
	Revenue expenditure on transport is generally supported through the Department for Communities and Local Government's Formula Grant.
	The Department also provided specific funding for:
	1. In 2008-09, the Department made available £117,000 to Bedfordshire and Luton borough for their Cycling Demonstration Town. In the same year, the East of England region was also allocated £548,000. This was made up of capital and revenue funding.
	2. The cycling programme—'Links to Schools'—set up in the East of England received capital funding from the Department. The amounts are stated in the table:
	
		
			   £ 
			 2008-09 195,000 
			 For Bedfordshire, Luton borough (120,000) 
			   
			 2007-08 76,136 
			 For Bedfordshire (0) 
			   
			 2006-07 276,531 
			 For Bedfordshire (0) 
			   
			 2005-06 235,000 
			 For Bedfordshire (0)

Transport: Finance

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport 
	(1)  how much his Department has spent on transport in  (a) South Tyneside,  (b) Tyne and Wear,  (c) the North East and  (d) England in each year since 1997;
	(2)  how much capital expenditure on roads there was in  (a) the North East and  (b) England in each year since 1997.

Sadiq Khan: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given on 28 January 2009,  Official Report, columns 535-6W.
	In addition, I also refer my hon. Friend to the reply given to the hon. Member for Beverley and Holderness (Mr. Stuart) on 28 January 2009,  Official Report, columns 534-536W. This provided tables showing the available data on regional expenditure on new construction/improvement and structural maintenance on motorways and trunk roads, as well as regional expenditure on new improvement for highways, lighting, road safety and structural maintenance on local roads for 1999-2000 to 2006-07. The data do not enable new road construction to be identified as a separate category.
	The Department has provided the following support for public transport major schemes in the north-east.
	 Tyne and Wear
	Stephenson Link (£6.444 million)
	Four Lane Ends Interchange (£7.625 million)
	Centrelink and Gateshead Interchange (£17.442 million)
	NewcastleGateshead Quaylink (£4.74 million)
	Eldon Square Bus Station (£10.970 million)
	 Rest of  north- east
	Durham Park and Ride (£9.163 million)
	 Tyne and Wear Metro
	The Department has provided the following sums to support the operation of the Tyne and Wear Metro. It is not possible to split this expenditure between South Tyneside and the other Tyne and Wear local authority areas.
	
		
			  £ million 
			   Revenue support  Capital support  Total subsidy 
			 1996-97 8.795 — 8.795 
			 1997-98 8.619 — 8.619 
			 1998-99 8.630 — 8.630 
			 1999-2000 9.428 — 9.428 
			 2000-01 9.787 — 9.787 
			 2001-02 9.884 — 9.884 
			 2002-03 11.831 — 11.831 
			 2003-04 13.407 — 13.407 
			 2004-05 15.952 — 15.952 
			 2005-06 13.713 4.180 17.893 
			 2006-07 18.057 4.305 22.362 
			 2007-08 20.779 4.391 25.170 
			 2008-09 19.943 7.131 27.074 
		
	
	Up to and including 2004-05, grant was provided solely as revenue support although Nexus were able to use this for capital spending on the Metro. Since then the annual subsidy has included a separately identifiable amount for capital spend.
	Additionally the Department has provided the following specific funding for the Tyne and Wear Metro:
	
		
			  Purpose  Year  Amount (£ million) 
			 Extension of the Metro to Sunderland 1999-2000 to 2003-04 37.465 
			 Metrocar refurbishment 2000-01 0.46 
			 Four Lane Ends Bus/Metro Interchange 2002-03 to 2004-05 7.625 
			 CCTV provision 2000-01 7.2 
			 Development costs for Metro Reinvigoration 2008-09 3.155 
		
	
	For total transport expenditure in England, table 1.15 of Transport Statistics Great Britain 2008 provides central and local Government expenditure:
	http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/statistics/datatablespublications/tsgb/2008edition/sectiononemodalcomparisons.pdf
	The Treasury provides a breakdown of regional spend by service in Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses. The latest figures for public expenditure on transport are given in table 9.9 and 9.10:
	http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/d/10(1).pdf
	Before 1 April 2008, funding for the statutory minimum bus concession was provided exclusively through the Formula Grant system, which is administered by the Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG). The Department for Transport therefore provided no separate funding for concessionary bus travel from 2001, when the statutory minimum was first introduced, until 2008.
	The Department provided funding in 2007-08 for the cost of producing and issuing the new England-wide bus passes to all those eligible.
	In 2008-09 and 2009-10 special grant funding is being provided by DFT to meet the additional cost of the new, England-wide concession.
	Concessionary fares funding:
	
		
			  £ million 
			   2007-08  2008-09  2009-10 
			 South Tyneside 0 0 0 
			 Tyne and Wear 0.94 5.38 5.50 
			 North East 2.14 10.31 10.56 
			 
			 England 30.48 212 217

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

International Assistance

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what his Department's latest assessment is of progress in relation to the achievement of the millennium development goals.

Michael Foster: The UN conducts the official assessment of progress towards the millennium development goals (MDGs). Its latest report relating to 2008 found that the global collective effort is yielding results and that progress is being made globally towards achieving many of the MDGs even in some of the more challenging regions. A number of targets are expected to be reached by their target dates in 2015. The report is available at:
	http://www.dfid.gov.uk/Documents/publications/mdg-factsheets/mdg-report-2008.pdf
	The Department for International Development (DFID) also conducts an annual assessment of progress towards key MDG targets at a country level based on international data. The latest assessment was published in its 2008 autumn performance report (copies of which are also in the parliamentary Library):
	http://www.dfid.gov.uk/Documents/publications/aut-perf-report-08.pdf

Sri Lanka: Internally Displaced Persons

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the humanitarian needs of people in Tamil areas and camps for internally displaced persons in Sri Lanka; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Foster: Since October 2008, more than 284,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) have been registered in Government-controlled IDP camps. Freedom of movement is denied in the camps except for some vulnerable groups and the elderly. The remaining IDPs are under military guard. Protection in the camps is a matter of concern. The Department for International Development (DFID) is particularly concerned for the war wounded, malnourished and those separated from their families—including unaccompanied children. The camps are overcrowded and have poor water and sanitation facilitates. Hospitals, such as those in Vavuniya and Mannar, are also overcrowded, having more patients than they can effectively treat.
	Access for humanitarian agencies has improved this week, but it remains inconsistent. Continued poor access has impeded agencies' ability to improve the conditions in the camps which remain of concern.
	The UK Government continue to press the Government of Sri Lanka to allow full and unrestricted humanitarian access to all IDPs, to treat IDPs in accordance with accepted international standards and guidelines; and to allow for their rapid and safe return from the camps to their homes.

Sri Lanka: Overseas Aid

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what estimate he has made of the proportion of humanitarian aid to the Tamil people in Sri Lanka from  (a) his Department,  (b) the EU and  (c) the UN which was delivered (i) via Sri Lankan Government agencies, (ii) via non-governmental organisations and (iii) directly in the latest period for which information is available; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Foster: The information is as follows:
	 (a) Since September 2008, the Department for International Development (DFID) has allocated £12.5 million of humanitarian assistance to Sri Lanka. Of this, £2.8 million has been provided to UN agencies, £1.5 million to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), £1.235 million to the International Organisation for Migration and £1.050 million to NGOs for a wide range of life-saving humanitarian activities. Approximately £6.0 million remains to respond rapidly to further needs on the ground and for early recovery when the displaced population are able to return home. No funding has been provided to Sri Lankan Government agencies.
	 (b) The European Commission Humanitarian Office (ECHO) has pledged US$3,952 million for UN organisations, the ICRC and NGOs for 2009.
	 (c) The UN Consolidated Humanitarian Action Plan (CHAP) 2009 for Sri Lanka includes both UN and non-governmental organisations. As of 5 June the CHAP was funded to 40 per cent. at US$61,594,766. An additional $28,143,620 has been pledged to UN and NGO activities outside the CHAP.
	DFID funding through the EU mechanism or to the UN should be allocated directly to implementing partners (UN agencies, NGOs and the ICRC).

Zimbabwe: Overseas Aid

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the merits of renewing direct aid provision to Zimbabwe.

Douglas Alexander: The UK Government are committed to supporting the people of Zimbabwe in the transition to stabilisation and recovery and have been at the forefront of efforts by the international community to support the needs of the Inclusive Government.
	Our assistance is aligned to Government priorities but is not currently channelled through their financial systems. We have made it clear, in all our discussions with Ministers and officials from the Inclusive Government, that credible progress and demonstration of a commitment to reform will attract increasing support from donors and other international partners, potentially including direct aid provision. We look forward to working together towards establishing a longer-term development partnership which will address the deeper roots of Zimbabwe's problems.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Business: Ethics

Ian McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has for further development of his Department's toolkit for business and human rights for use by UK missions overseas.

Ivan Lewis: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has developed a series of toolkits to guide our posts in their human rights work overseas. The toolkit on business and human rights is the latest in this series and aims to provide guidance for UK diplomatic missions on how to promote good conduct by British companies operating overseas and to provide specific guidance on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development National Contact Point procedure. The toolkit is still being developed with the help of other Government Departments and external stakeholders. When finalised, it will be disseminated to posts and made available as a resource on the FCO's internal web pages.

Democratic Republic of Congo: Peacekeeping Operations

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his Department's latest assessment is of whether the full military and police components mandated for MONUC will be put in place.

Ivan Lewis: The additional infantry, engineers, special forces and police mandated for the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC) by the UN Security Council in Resolution 1843 have been identified. The UN Secretariat and troop contributing countries are making advanced preparations for their deployment, which they hope will take place in the next few months. Several member states have expressed interest in providing the 200 military trainers mandated, but at present the concept for their use is still being developed by the UN Secretariat. However, the UN Secretariat has had few offers so far for additional aircraft and intelligence equipment.

Departmental Opinion Polls

Adam Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on which subjects his Department has  (a) commissioned and  (b) conducted opinion polling in each of the last two years; which such polls canvassed opinion from Departmental employees; and what estimate he has made of his Department's expenditure on such polling.

Chris Bryant: The following central departmental surveys have been commissioned and conducted since June 2007:
	Survey of Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) stakeholders (2008)
	Staff engagement survey (2007 and 2008)
	Survey measuring awareness of FCO among the public (2008)
	Survey of partners across Government (2009)
	All these surveys have been commissioned by FCO and conducted by external, independent research organisations.
	The staff engagement surveys in 2007 and 2008 canvassed opinion from departmental employees.
	The total cost of the five surveys listed above is £198,000.
	The FCO is a global organisation consisting of a number of directorates in the UK and over 200 overseas posts. Some directorates and overseas posts conduct independent surveys on specific issues. Information about such surveys is not held centrally. To collate information on surveys conducted across the whole of the FCO would involve collecting information from all directorates and all overseas posts, which would incur disproportionate costs.

Eritrea: Christianity

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the Eritrean government on the imprisonment of Christians in that country.

Ivan Lewis: Our embassy in Asmara is aware of reports of the detention without charge by the Eritrean Government of members of minority religious groups along with journalists, leading political figures and members of civil society and returned asylum seekers. This contravenes international human rights agreements to which Eritrea is a party and is unacceptable. Eritrea should allow all its citizens to worship as they wish, as set out in Article 18 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
	The UK raises human rights issues including religious freedom with the Eritrean Government both in Asmara and with the Eritrean ambassador to London on a regular basis. My noble Friend, the Minister for Africa, Asia and the UN, Lord Malloch-Brown, raised human rights with the Eritrean ambassador at the end of last year.
	A huge obstacle to achieving any progress on human rights in Eritrea is that the Eritrean police and security services are not willing to engage with our embassy on human rights abuses. This makes following up reports of any abuses, including imprisonments, very difficult.
	The EU has also tried to discuss human rights as part of the Article 8 Political Dialogue with Eritrea. Unfortunately, since initial discussions earlier this year the Government of Eritrea have twice refused to have human rights included on the Article 8 Dialogue agenda for discussion.
	We will continue to raise human rights, including the detention without charge of minority religious groups, with the Eritrean authorities.

Eritrea: Human Rights

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations he has made to the Eritrean Government on allegations of human rights abuses in that country.

Ivan Lewis: The UK raises human rights issues with the Eritrean Government both in Asmara and with the Eritrean ambassador to London on a regular basis, highlighting the amount of public and parliamentary interest we receive. My noble Friend, the Minister for Africa, Asia and the UN, Lord Malloch-Brown, raised human rights with the Eritrean ambassador at the end of last year.
	We also discuss human rights as part of the EU via the Article 8 Political Dialogue, with EU Heads of Mission producing a human rights report at the end of January to discuss with the Government of Eritrea. Unfortunately, since initial discussions earlier this year the Government of Eritrea have twice refused to have human rights included on the Article 8 Dialogue agenda for discussion.
	We will continue to press to get human rights discussions back on the Article 8 Dialogue agenda.

EU Institutions: Manpower

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the Answer of 2 April 2009,  Official Report, column 1312W, on EC institutions: manpower, what steps he has taken to increase the number of civil service fast streamers working in European Union institutions.

Angela Smith: I have been asked to reply.
	The Government are continuing to engage with the EU institutions as they introduce reforms to recruitment competitions, seek to increase their outreach activities, and develop their staffing policy. Government Departments are currently discussing whether a revised version of the European Fast Stream should be reintroduced for 2010 and what form it would take. DEFRA is leading on an initiative to increase EU professionalism across the civil service, including increasing the number of UK nationals applying for and passing the EU's recruitment competitions.

Gabon: Politics and Government

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the political situation in Gabon following the death of Omar Bongo.

Ivan Lewis: Following the death of President Bongo, the Gabonese constitutional court has appointed the leader of the senate, Rose Francine Rogombé, as the acting head of state. This is in accordance with the constitution of Gabon. In line with the constitution, she will now have 45 days to organise elections in which she is ineligible to stand. The situation in Gabon is currently calm.

Hezbollah

Stephen Ladyman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what criteria will be used in deciding which members of Hezbollah's political wing officials should meet.

Ivan Lewis: Our objective with Hezbollah is to urge it to reject violence and play a constructive, democratic and peaceful role in Lebanese politics, in line with UN Security Council resolutions. We believe that occasional and carefully considered contacts with Hezbollah's politicians, including its MPs, will best advance this objective. The distinction is between those members of Hezbollah who are legitimately involved in Lebanese politics and those who are involved in violence and support terrorism.

Hezbollah

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what contacts the Government have had with Hezbollah's political wing since their recent change of policy on contacts with that organisation.

Ivan Lewis: On 9 January 2009 our ambassador in Beirut attended a meeting of British parliamentarians with the Lebanese Foreign Affairs Committee. Representatives of all members of the National Unity Government were present, including one MP from Hezbollah's political wing, Ali Amar. During this meeting the ambassador urged all sides to show restraint during the crisis in Gaza, and spoke of the importance of all sides respecting the terms of UN Security Council Resolution 1701. In the course of normal diplomatic business, staff at our embassy in Beirut have also met Hezbollah politicians on a number of occasions.
	We continue to believe that occasional and carefully considered contacts with Hezbollah's politicians, including its MPs, will best advance our objective of urging Hezbollah to reject violence and play a constructive, democratic and peaceful role in Lebanese politics, in line with UN Security Council resolutions.

Iraq: Reconstruction

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 3 June 2009,  Official Report, column 512W, on departmental public expenditure, for what reasons his Department has determined that it is more cost effective to manage major contracts in Iraq in London.

Ivan Lewis: It is more cost effective to manage the major contracts from London as support costs for the responsible officers are significantly lower than for officers based in Iraq.

Nepal: Diplomatic Service

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what channels of communication his Department has with British nationals in Nepal.

Ivan Lewis: Our embassies and high commissions use a number of channels to communicate with British nationals. These include travel advice, wardens networks, LOCATE—an on-line registering facility—the internet and local media.

Nepal: Diplomatic Service

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans are in place for the safety of British nationals in Nepal in the case of an emergency.

Ivan Lewis: All our embassies and high commissions are required to hold a Post Emergency Plan and, where deemed necessary, a Civil Contingency Plan. Our embassy in Kathmandu holds both. These plans are designed to help our Diplomatic Missions respond to any crisis they may face, including dealing with consular emergencies, civil unrest or in some cases evacuating British nationals. All plans are reviewed regularly and tested at least annually. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office's Consular Crisis Group oversees the review process of these plans, and will assist our embassy in Kathmandu to test its emergency response plans by running a semi-live exercise later this year.

North Korea: Nuclear Weapons

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what meetings he has had with his  (a) Chinese and  (b) Russian counterparts to discuss the nuclear threat from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in the last two years.

Ivan Lewis: China and Russia have both been key players in the Six Party Talks on Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) denuclearisation, and the UK has maintained close dialogue with both Governments at ministerial, ambassadorial and working levels. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary discussed DPRK with Russian colleagues at the last meeting of G8 Foreign Ministers, and with Chinese colleagues at the UK-China Summit in February 2009.

Royal Visits: Expenditure

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much his Department has paid towards the cost of visits abroad by members of the Royal Family in each of the last 10 years.

Chris Bryant: The information to provide a comprehensive answer is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. Figures held by Protocol Directorate with estimates from overseas posts since 2005 show that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has spent in the region of:
	
		
			   £ 
			 2005-06 424,056 
			 2006-07 351,389 
			 2007-08 602,248 
			 2008-09 358,178 
		
	
	The costs include accommodation, staffing, communications, office costs, interpreting, press and public affairs and official hospitality. Travel costs to the countries of destination are funded by the grant in aid held by the Department for Transport.

Saed Jamal Abu-Hijleh

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations he has received on the death of the mother of Saed Jamal Abu-Hijleh in Nablus in 2002.

Ivan Lewis: We have not received any recent representation on the death of the mother of Saed Jamal Abu-Hijleh. However, the UK has long condemned all attacks on innocent civilians and will continue to do so.

Sri Lanka: Armed Conflict

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Government of Sri Lanka on the treatment of those who provided medical and financial assistance to the Tamil people during the recent conflict in that country.

Ivan Lewis: We are aware of reports of the ongoing detention of individuals who provided medical assistance during the recent conflict in Sri Lanka. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has made representations on their behalf to Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Bogollagama, most recently when they met in London on 5 June 2009.

Sri Lanka: Armed Conflict

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate he has made of the number of civilians killed  (a) by the Sri Lankan army and  (b) by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in the recent conflict in Sri Lanka; and if he will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: During the recent conflict in Sri Lanka there have been many conflicting reports of the number of civilians killed by both sides, particularly in the final weeks of the fighting. As the conflict took place without independent monitoring and with severe restrictions on the media, it is very difficult to estimate the number of casualties or who was responsible. As such, we fully endorse the EU's call for an independent inquiry into the recent conflict in Sri Lanka. This would play an important part in the post-conflict reconciliation process.

Sri Lanka: Armed Conflict

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received of alleged war crimes during the recent conflict in Sri Lanka; what steps he is taking in collaboration with his international counterparts to establish the veracity of such reports; and if he will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: As my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has made clear, we fully endorse the EU's calls for an independent inquiry into allegations of violations of international law in the recent conflict in Sri Lanka. It could play an important role in the post-conflict reconciliation process. As such, we welcome the joint statement by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and President Rajapakse of Sri Lanka underlining the importance of an accountability process for addressing possible violations of international humanitarian and human rights law. We will continue to press for progress on this with international partners, above all the EU and UN.

Sri Lanka: Internally Displaced Persons

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Government of Sri Lanka on the registration of those held in internally displaced persons camps in Sri Lanka; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Foster: I have been asked to reply.
	The Prime Minister, the Foreign Secretary, the High Commissioner in Colombo and I have all urged the Government of Sri Lanka, at the highest levels, to ensure that internally displaced persons (IDPs) be treated in accordance with accepted international standards and guidelines.

Sri Lanka: Internally Displaced Persons

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate he has made of the number of Tamil civilians in internally displaced persons camps in Sri Lanka; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Foster: I have been asked to reply.
	According to the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), around 284,000 civilians fled the fighting in the Vanni, between September 2008 and May 2009. Roughly 263,000 are being accommodated in 22 emergency shelter sites in Vavuniya. A further 11,000 people are being accommodated in 11 emergency shelter sites in Jaffna, 6,700 people in two sites in Trincomalee and some 400 people in two sites in Mannar.

Sri Lanka: Internally Displaced Persons

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Government of Sri Lanka on the freedom of the press  (a) in Sri Lanka and  (b) to visit and report on (i) Tamil areas and (ii) camps for internally displaced persons; and if he will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: We have regularly called on the Sri Lankan Government to take decisive action to guarantee press freedom in Sri Lanka, following a number of attacks and intimidation of the media. We have also called on them to allow access to the camps set up for internally displaced people.
	The UK raised our concerns about media freedom in Sri Lanka at the UN Human Rights Council Session in March 2009. My right hon. friend the Foreign Secretary's most recent statement on Sri Lanka was on 19 May 2009,  Official Report, column 73WS.

Sri Lanka: International Assistance

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Sri Lankan Government on their recent decision to turn away the Vanni Mercy Mission ship MV Captain Ali; and if he will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: We have had no discussions with the Government of Sri Lanka about the ship, MV Captain Ali, since it left Sri Lankan waters. Our clear position throughout has been that assistance should be delivered through the correct humanitarian channels and with the necessary clearances.
	We remain greatly concerned at the humanitarian situation facing the 280,000 civilians displaced by the recent fighting in Sri Lanka and have committed a total of £12.5 million of humanitarian assistance since September 2008, channelled through UN and independent humanitarian agencies.
	We continue to press for full and unhindered access to the UN and other humanitarian organisations on the ground.

West Bank

Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what support his Department is providing to Lieutenant General Keith Dayton in training Palestinian security forces in the West Bank.

Ivan Lewis: The Government provide, at a cost of £2.3 million a year from the Conflict Prevention Pool, a civil-military team to assist the work of General Dayton, the US Security Co-ordinator (USSC). The British Support Team (BST) to the USSC is based in Ramallah, led by a serving British Army Brigadier with a staff of 11 personnel. The BST acts as the USSC's direct link with the Palestinian Authority in supporting the development of the Palestinian National Security Force. In addition, the UK provides direct personnel support to General Dayton's headquarters in Jerusalem in the form of two serving military staff officers and a retired police officer.

Zimbabwe: Politics and Government

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the effectiveness and stability of the power-sharing Government in Zimbabwe.

Ivan Lewis: holding answer 15 June 2009
	 Through their Global Political Agreement (GPA), the Inclusive Government (IG) have committed themselves to a package of reforms that will restore security and welfare to Zimbabwe's people, and promote respect for human rights and the rule of law. They have made an effective start to this work: a credible short-term economic recovery plan (STERP) has been published and is beginning to be acted upon, and the payment of public workers has seen some civic organs functioning again. However, several vital aspects of the GPA remain to be implemented; the continued harassment of human rights defenders, arbitrary arrests and intimidation, increased farm invasions and lack of press freedom all remain a concern. Without major progress in these areas the IG will not have kept their promises to the Zimbabwean people, and the international community will be unable fully to re-engage with Zimbabwe.
	Tensions and differences of attitude to reform and its pace remain; not surprising when the IG bring together erstwhile political foes. We will continue to look actively for ways of supporting the IG in their efforts to achieve reforms, offering assistance which promotes and strengthens positive change. We are in regular contact with the Government to discuss how this can best be achieved and we maintain close dialogue on this with our EU and international partners.

TREASURY

Banks: Finance

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish a summary of representations received by his Department on the management of UK Financial Investments' controlling interest in banks in the last two years.

Ian Pearson: Treasury Ministers receive advice and input on a wide range of issues, from a variety of individuals and organisations in the public and private sectors, as part of the process of policy development and analysis. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of advice given to the Treasury.

Banks: Tax Avoidance

Michael Meacher: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 21 April 2009,  Official Report, column 637W, on banks: tax avoidance, to which sentences of the statement by the Chancellor of the Exchequer of 16 March 2009,  Official Report, column 654, on G20 Finance Ministers' meeting, the answer refers.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The Chancellor of the Exchequer has stated on 16 March that he had
	"asked Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs to publish shortly a draft code of practice on taxation for the banking sector, so that banks comply with not just the letter but the spirit of the law".
	The code will be issued shortly.

Business: Government Assistance

John Barrett: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether any consortiums have requested loans from his Department's Infrastructure Finance Unit.

Ian Pearson: The Manchester Waste Authority, through DEFRA, requested a loan for their project. The Treasury's Infrastructure Finance Unit (TIFU) provided £120 million, which contributed to the project reaching financial close on 8 April.

Financial Ombudsman Service

Annette Brooke: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent representations he has received on the time taken by the Financial Ombudsman Service to deal with complaints; what monitoring takes place of the time taken by the Financial Ombudsman Service to respond to complaints; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Timms: The Government have received representations regarding the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) following a sudden and unprecedented influx of cases about payment protection insurance and credit card charges, which has meant that waiting times at the FOS are currently longer than the FOS and its users would like.
	The Financial Services Authority (FSA) approves the budget of the FOS and has a duty to ensure that the FOS is at all times capable of exercising its functions. The FSA has approved an increase in the FOS' budget enabling it to implement a range of initiatives to deal with this influx and the FOS is confident that the FOS will be able to work through these challenges effectively in the months ahead.

Financial Services: Carbon Emissions

Gregory Barker: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he is taking to ensure that the UK's international financial services sector is globally competitive in carbon trading.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The Government are committed to ensuring that the UK's international financial services industry remains an essential and important part of the global economy. The UK is globally competitive in carbon trading, hosting over 50 per cent. of volume of the global carbon market. In line with broader commitments to fair, stable and efficient financial markets, the Government have recently introduced legislation to improve the efficiency and accessibility of UK carbon auctions, as set out in Budget 2009. The Government also have a business advice office to support and promote UK private sector involvement in the international carbon market.

Financial Services: EU Action

Adam Price: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer where the headquarters of the  (a) European Systemic Risk Board and  (b) European System of Financial Supervisors will be.

Ian Pearson: The Chancellor will be discussing strengthening EU regulatory and supervisory arrangements with European colleagues over the coming months.

Landfill Tax

David Drew: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 10 June 2009,  Official Report, column 910W, on taxation: construction, if he will take into account the environmental impact of sourcing of the construction materials that become landfill waste in determining levels of landfill tax; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Timms: In addition to the lower rate of landfill tax for inert waste, the Government introduced the aggregates levy in 2002 with the primary objective of internalising the environmental costs of quarrying on commercially exploited rock, sand and gravel. The levy encourages the use of recycled aggregates and alternative materials. The levy has been a significant factor in reducing sales of virgin aggregates in England by around 18 million tonnes between 2001 and 2005, with an estimated increase in the use of recycled aggregate of nearly 6 million tonnes.

Members: Correspondence

Michael Spicer: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the Chief Secretary to the Treasury plans to reply to the email from the hon. Member for West Worcestershire of 15 April 2009, on funding for services for people with learning disabilities.

Liam Byrne: Receipt of the correspondence could not be traced. The hon. Member's office has been asked for a copy which will be responded to as soon as possible after receipt.

Public Expenditure

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when allocations of capital spending for Government departments from 2011 onwards will be made; and if he will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: Allocations of capital spending for Government Departments from 2011 onwards will be made in the normal way at the next spending review.

Revenue and Customs: Closures

Bob Spink: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the likely effect of HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) planned office closures on average times taken by HMRC to reply to correspondence from members of the public.

Stephen Timms: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is consolidating staff and work in fewer locations in the interests of greater efficiency. The offices to be closed are those that are surplus to business requirements, and their closure should therefore have no adverse effect on the times taken to deal with correspondence. The streamlining of processes and introduction of new working methods, including improvements to IT systems, should lead to longer-term improvements in HMRC's service to customers.

Revenue and Customs: Manpower

Bob Spink: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many  (a) directors,  (b) senior managers,  (c) specialist and delivery managers and  (d) executive support and administration staff there were in each HM Revenue and Customs office in each of the last five years.

Stephen Timms: The information requested is not available, as HM Revenue and Customs hold information on the grade of officer and not their role.

Taxation: Alcoholic Drinks

Mark Oaten: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make an estimate of the amount of advertising expenditure deducted from profits before tax by businesses producing alcoholic drinks in 2008-09.

Stephen Timms: No estimates are available, as tax returns do not separately identify the amount of expenditure deducted from profits by businesses.

OLYMPICS

Olympic Games 2012: Finance

Bob Spink: To ask the Minister for the Olympics what her most recent estimate is of the cost of hosting the London 2012 Olympics archery event at Lord's Cricket Ground.

Tessa Jowell: The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) has responsibility for staging the Olympic and Paralympic Games at existing venues. The direct costs associated with staging the events at existing venues come from LOCOG's revenues which are primarily derived from commercial sponsorship, broadcast rights, ticket sales and merchandising/licensing—not from the public purse.
	There will be attributable costs to the public purse, for example in respect of the security and transport functions associated with the venue. These costs have not yet been identified separately for individual venues, but they will form part of the overall security and transport budgets.

Olympic Games 2012: Haringey

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Minister for the Olympics what discussions her Office has had with Haringey borough to enable it to  (a) participate fully in and  (b) receive a legacy from the London 2012 Olympic Games; and if she will make a statement.

Tessa Jowell: I met with the Leader of Haringey council and other council officials on 6 February 2008 to discuss Haringey's plans to engage with and benefit from the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
	The Chairman of the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) met local councillors and business representatives on 8 January 2009 in Haringey to talk about the employment and training opportunities across the park, and to plan events to support businesses in Haringey. Haringey is a member of the north London sub-regional partnership and the ODA hope to hold an event with this partnership before the end of 2009.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Departmental Correspondence

Alistair Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what percentage of letters to his Department from hon. Members' parliamentary offices were answered within 30 days of the date of receipt in each quarter from January 2008 to March 2009.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Department aims to respond to queries from Members of Parliament and Peers within 20 working days. Performance is detailed in the Department's annual reports and is also reported to Parliament each year by written statement.
	Information relating to performance within 30 days could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Electricity

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate he has made of the percentage of electricity used by his Department which was derived from renewable sources in  (a) 2006-07 and  (b) 2007-08.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The percentage of electricity derived from renewable sources is as follows:
	2006-07—100 per cent.
	2007-08—100 per cent.

Departmental Energy

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much  (a) electricity and  (b) gas was used (i) on his Department's estate and (ii) by his Department's agency in each year from 2004-05 to 2008-09.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The electricity and gas used by the Department and the Royal Parks on its office estate is detailed in the following table.
	
		
			   Electricity Kwh  Gas Kwh 
			  Department for Culture, Media and Sport   
			 1999-2000 n/a n/a 
			 2000-01 n/a n/a 
			 2001-02 n/a n/a 
			 2002-03 n/a n/a 
			 2003-04 4,368,192 3,275,860 
			 2004-05 4,186,267 2,643,861 
			 2005-06 4,438,625 2,488,443 
			 2006-07 4,320,106 2,631,318 
			 2007-08 3,647,784 2,135,379 
			 2008-09 3,091,873 1,344,409 
			
			  The Royal Parks   
			 1999-2000 n/a n/a 
			 2000-01 n/a n/a 
			 2001-02 n/a n/a 
			 2002-03 n/a n/a 
			 2003-04 n/a n/a 
			 2004-05 4,141,338 1,275,682 
			 2005-06 3,346,056 1,402,580 
			 2006-07 3,220,032 1,505,334 
			 2007-08 2,995,048 1,490,492 
			 2008-09 n/a n/a 
			 n/a = Not available. 
		
	
	Data are not available prior to April 2004 and since April 2008 the Royal Parks have not recorded data on kwh consumed.

Departmental Training

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what training courses have been attended by special advisers in his Department in the last 12 months; and at what cost.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Special advisers receive training as appropriate to enable them to fulfil their duties and responsibilities as set out in the "Model Contract for Special Advisers".
	In the past 12 months one special adviser attended a Health and Safety course held within the Department at a cost of £60.80 plus VAT per person.

Hillsborough Disaster

Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what progress his Department has made in identifying files and documents it holds relating to the Hillsborough disaster that can be released.

Ben Bradshaw: My Department, in partnership with other Departments, is currently developing a Government- wide approach in close liaison with local agencies in South Yorkshire and beyond.

Sports: Greater Manchester

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much Lottery funding was awarded to sport-related groups in  (a) Tameside and  (b) Stockport in each of the last five years.

Si�n Simon: The tables show the value of lottery awards made in each of the last five years to organisations that are providing community sport opportunities in the Tameside and Stockport metropolitan boroughs.
	
		
			  Tameside 
			  Financial year  Total value of awards () 
			 2004-05 2,956,226 
			 2005-06 1,417,902 
			 2006-07 700,351 
			 2007-08 894,669 
			 2008-09 798,137 
		
	
	
		
			  Stockport 
			  Financial year  Total value of awards () 
			 2004-05 2,333,633 
			 2005-06 368,986 
			 2006-07 168,884 
			 2007-08 708,891 
			 2008-09 245,173

WORK AND PENSIONS

Christmas Bonus

Anthony Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions for what reasons Mr. John Coombe of Brixham did not receive a 10 Christmas bonus payment and subsequent additional 60 bonus payment under the Real Help for Pensioners Christmas bonus payment scheme; and if she will make a statement.

Angela Eagle: holding answer 8 June 2009
	 The acting chief executive of the Pensions, Disability and Carers Service has responded to the hon. Member separately on 3 June 2009 with the information requested relating to his constituent Mr. John Coombe of Brixham.

Departmental Manpower

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many  (a) directors,  (b) senior managers,  (c) specialist and delivery managers and  (d) executive support and administration staff there were in each Pension Service office in each of the last five years.

Angela Eagle: The information available detailing the numbers of staff deployed overall in the former Pension Service at the end of each of the last five financial years is in the table.
	
		
			  As at March each year 
			   2005( 1)  2006( 1)  2007  2008  2009 
			 Band A/AA 1,577 1,169 1,014 830 791 
			 Band B/AO 8,816 7,425 6,765 5,790 5,557 
			 Band C/EO 4,650 4,070 3,750 3,090 2,776 
			 Band D/HEO 923 780 683 568 425 
			 Band E/SEO 271 237 309 288 245 
			 Band F/UG7 108 97 106 98 88 
			 Band G/UG6 52 46 53 73 49 
			 SCS 23 21 22 24 18 
			 Total (2)16,419 (2)13,846 (2)12,701 (2)10,762 9,949 
			 (1) March 2005 and 2006 inc. Pensions Client Group. (2) Difference of one due to roundings.  Notes: 1. Bands A/AA through to Band B/AOadministration staff of which 6,268 (99 per cent.) are deployed on benefit delivery with just 80 (1 per cent.) deployed in Central Services (Administration). 2. Band C/EO through to Band D/HEOjunior management of which 2,639 (82 per cent.) are deployed on benefit delivery and 562 (18 per cent.) deployed in Central Services (Executive Support). 3. Band E/SEO through to Band G/G6middle management of which 171 (45 per cent.) are deployed on benefit deliver and 211 (55 per cent.) deployed in Central Services (Specialist and Delivery Managers). 4. SCSall Directors and senior management of which four (22 per cent.) are deployed on benefit delivery and 14 (78 per cent.) in Central Services (Directors).  Source: DWP Corporate Workforce Planning and DWP Data view as at 31 March 2009 
		
	
	 Background information
	Grading and staffing numbers in Pension Service offices over the last five years have fluctuated according to business needs. Historic data are not available to the level of detail asked for, but the summary table shows the numbers employed in each grade at the end of the last five financial years. Additionally, the number of, and location of, Pension Service offices has also changed.
	In April 2008 the merger of the Pension Service and Disability and Carer Service took place and Pension, Disability and Carers Service was formed. There are currently 9,949 staff exclusively deployed on former Pension Service business.

Fuel Poverty

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people receiving fuel assistance as a result of being disabled or long-term ill-health are also eligible for fuel assistance due to their age.

Angela Eagle: holding answer 11 June 2009
	The information requested is not available.

Pension Credit

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what her policy is on issuing reminders to people who are due to become eligible for pension credit; and if she will make a statement.

Angela Eagle: holding answer 12 June 2009
	The Government are committed to ensuring pensioners receive the support they are entitled to. The Pension, Disability and Carers Service (PDCS) contacts all pensioner households to tell them about pension credit, to ensure everyone who is likely to be entitled to pension credit knows what they need to do to take up their entitlement.
	A person approaching state pension age will receive a booklet (BR33) telling them how to claim state pension and other benefits and services they are entitled to, including pension credit.
	In addition to this, PDCS undertakes regular pension credit campaign activity through multiple channels in order to ensure additional focus on those pensioners who may be eligible.
	It is not policy to issue reminders to people about possible entitlement except as part of the targeted campaigns described above.

Pension Credit

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of those eligible for pension credit have not claimed pension credit in each of the last five years.

Angela Eagle: The latest estimates of the take-up rates, value of unclaimed benefit and the number of those entitled to but not receiving means-tested benefits in Great Britain, covering income support, pension credit, housing benefit, council tax benefit and jobseeker's allowance (income based) are published in the report Income Related Benefits Estimates of Take-Up in 2006-07.

Pension Credit: Greater Manchester

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners in  (a) Tameside and  (b) Stockport received pension credit in each year since its inception.

Angela Eagle: The information requested is in the following table.
	Households in receipt and individual beneficiaries of pension credit in Tameside and Stockport November 2003 to November 2008
	
		
			   Tameside  Stockport 
			  As at November each year  Household recipients  Individual beneficiaries  Household recipients  Individual beneficiaries 
			 2003 9,860 11,740 9,390 11,040 
			 2004 11,740 14,130 11,790 14,050 
			 2005 11,900 14,340 12,060 14,360 
			 2006 11,930 14,390 12,040 14,380 
			 2007 11,870 14,380 12,100 14,480 
			 2008 11,890 14,460 12,030 14,420 
			  Notes: 1. Caseload figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Household recipients are those people who claim pension credit either for themselves only or on behalf of a household. 3. The number of individual beneficiaries includes both claimants and their partners, some of whom may be under 60 years of age.  Source: DWP Information Directorate Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study 100 per cent. data

Pension Protection Fund

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether the Government plan to stand behind the Pension Protection Fund in circumstances in which its assets and contributions are not sufficient to meet claims made on it.

Angela Eagle: There is no need for the Government to guarantee the Pension Protection Fund. The PPF is designed to work over the long term. With around 3 billion in assets, and a monthly compensation bill of around 4 million, the PPF is able to fund compensation for a long time to come.

Winter Fuel Payments: Overseas Residence

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if she will estimate the number of British pensioners living abroad who are in receipt of the basic state pension but do not qualify for the winter fuel payment; and if she will make a statement.

Angela Eagle: The information requested is not available.

PRIME MINISTER

BBC External Services

Greg Hands: To ask the Prime Minister whether he plans to reply to the e-petition which closed on 9 April 2009, relating to the BBC World Service, on the Downing Street website.

Gordon Brown: I refer the hon. Member to the reply issued on the No. 10 website:
	http://www.number10.gov.uk/Page19451
	A copy of this webpage has been placed in the Library of the House.

British Constitution

Dai Davies: To ask the Prime Minister whom he consulted on his proposals for constitutional reform announced on 10 June 2009; what public consultation he plans to hold on the proposals; and if he will make a statement.

Eleanor Laing: To ask the Prime Minister what steps the National Council for Democratic Renewal plans to take to consult  (a) organisations and  (b) individuals in the course of its work.

Gordon Brown: Public consultation will be a key part of the proposals for constitutional reform, and the Government will set out their plans for taking this forward shortly.

Cabinet: Southampton

Mark Hoban: To ask the Prime Minister what the cost was of holding the meeting of the Cabinet in Southampton on 23 February 2009.

Gordon Brown: The visit of the Cabinet to Southampton on 23 February 2009 was one of several ministerial visits across the region; there was a public engagement event with around 140 local people and a formal Cabinet meeting. The cost of the public engagement event and the Cabinet meeting was approximately 103,802, excluding VAT. This figure includes the cost of hiring the venue, catering, associated security and delegate management. There are no separate figures for the Cabinet meeting. In addition, Departments and agencies will have incurred costs in terms of travel, staff time and other support. The cost of any security provided by the police is a matter for the relevant police force.

Council for Constitutional Renewal

Dai Davies: To ask the Prime Minister when he expects the Council for Constitutional Renewal to be established; how many members of the Council there will be; by what criteria its membership will be decided; what payment will be provided to Council members for their participation in the Council; what secretariat will be provided for the Council, and with what budget; whether all its deliberations will be held in public; and whether the Council will be a public authority for the purposes of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Gordon Brown: I refer the hon. Member to the statement I made to the House on 10 June 2009,  Official Report, column 795-99. As with all Cabinet Committees, the Democratic Renewal Council will be supported by the Cabinet Office, and individual Departments where relevant.

Democratic Renewal Council and Domestic Policy Council

Dai Davies: To ask the Prime Minister by what means the proceedings of the  (a) Democratic Renewal Council and  (b) Domestic Policy Council will be reported to the House; and what estimate has been made of the administrative cost of each body in the next 12 months.

Eleanor Laing: To ask the Prime Minister whether he has requested the National Council for Democratic Renewal to report recommendations to him within a specified period.

Gordon Brown: I refer the hon. Members to the statement I made to the House on 10 June 2009,  Official Report, column 795-799.

Departmental Responsibilities

Norman Baker: To ask the Prime Minister what the official duties and responsibilities are of the First Secretary of State; what change there has been in those duties from those formerly accorded to the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform; and what arrangements he has made for a Minister to answer questions in the House on the discharge of any new duties.

Gordon Brown: I refer the hon. Member to the Machinery of Government and Ministerial Appointments press notices issued by my Office. Copies are available in the Library of the House and are also available on the No. 10 website at:
	http://www.number10.gov.uk/Page19525
	and
	http://www.number10.gov.uk/Page19564.

Departmental Training

Philip Hammond: To ask the Prime Minister what training courses have been attended by special advisers in his Office in the last 12 months; and at what cost.

Gordon Brown: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Southend, West (Mr. Amess) on 6 May 2009,  Official Report, column 182W.

Enterprise Champion

Norman Baker: To ask the Prime Minister what the official duties and responsibilities of the Enterprise Champion are; and which Minister will answer questions in the House on their discharge.

Gordon Brown: I refer the hon. Member to the press notice issued by my Office on Friday 5 June 2009. A copy is available on the No. 10 website:
	http://www.number10.gov.uk/Page19515.

Iraq Conflict

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Prime Minister if he will make it his policy to consult  (a) the leaders of Opposition parties represented in the House and  (b) the Chair of the Public Administration Select Committee before announcing (i) the terms of reference and (ii) the composition of an inquiry into the Iraq war; and if he will make a statement.

Simon Hughes: To ask the Prime Minister what the terms of reference of the planned inquiry into the Iraq war will be; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Price: To ask the Prime Minister what discussions he plans to have with members of other political parties represented in the House on the terms of reference of the forthcoming inquiry into the war in Iraq.

Gordon Brown: I refer the hon. Members to the statement I made to the House on 15 June 2009,  Official Report, columns 21-24.

Israel: EC External Relations

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Prime Minister what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on the agenda for the EU-Israel Association Council meeting on 15 June 2009; and if he will make a statement.

Gordon Brown: I have regular meetings and discussions with ministerial colleagues and others on a wide range of subjects.

Israel: EC External Relations

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Prime Minister 
	(1)  what recent discussions he has had with the President of the European Commission on upgrading EU-Israel relations;
	(2)  what recent discussions he has had with his European counterparts on upgrading EU-Israel relations.

Gordon Brown: I have regular discussions with the president of the European Commission and others on the issue of the middle east and related issues.

National Council for Democratic Renewal

Eleanor Laing: To ask the Prime Minister whether the recommendations of the National Council for Democratic Renewal will be published.

Gordon Brown: The Democratic Renewal Council will operate in accordance with normal procedures for Cabinet Committees. Proposals from the Committee will be subject to public engagement and consultation where relevant.

National Council for Democratic Renewal

Eleanor Laing: To ask the Prime Minister what the budget is of the National Council for Democratic Renewal for 2009-10.

Gordon Brown: As with all Cabinet Committees, the Democratic Renewal Council will be supported by the Cabinet Office, and individual Departments where relevant.

National Council for Democratic Renewal

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Prime Minister who the members of the National Council for Democratic Renewal are.

Eleanor Laing: To ask the Prime Minister who the members are of the National Council for Democratic Renewal.

Gordon Brown: A list of members of all Cabinet Committees will be published shortly.

Parliamentary Private Secretaries

Francis Maude: To ask the Prime Minister which hon. Members act as Parliamentary Private Secretaries to Ministers in each Department.

Gordon Brown: Following the recent reshuffle a list of Parliamentary Private Secretaries will be published in the usual manner.

Senior Salaries Review Body

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Prime Minister if he will make it his policy to extend the remit of the Review Body on Senior Salaries to enable it to advise public bodies other than those specified in its existing terms of reference.

Gordon Brown: The Review Body on Senior Salaries (SSRB) provides independent advice on the remuneration of holders of judicial office; senior civil servants; senior officers of the armed forces, very senior NHS managers and other such public appointments as may from time to time be specified by the Prime Minister. Full details of the Review Body's remit can be found on the SSRB website:
	http://www.ome.uk.com/review.cfm?body=4.
	Appropriate pay setting mechanisms are already in place to cover public bodies other than those specified in this remit. In general, approval for the pay of chief executives of non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) is the responsibility of the parent Department, in consultation with HM Treasury. In making their decision, Departments take account of appropriate market comparators and public sector pay policy. The pay of other executives is normally included in an NDPB's pay remit, which is normally approved by the parent Department.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Antisocial Behaviour Orders: Young People

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many antisocial behaviour orders given to children aged 10 to 17 years old have had reporting restrictions imposed through the discretion of the court under section 39 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933 in each of the last 10 years.

Alan Campbell: The information requested is not available centrally.
	Antisocial behaviour orders are civil orders and therefore not automatically subject to reporting restrictions. ASBOs are designed to protect local communities and their effectiveness will depend on local people knowing about them. However, courts retain the power to impose reporting restrictions if they believe it appropriate to do so.

DNA: Databases

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what applications to use data from the national DNA database for research purposes have been submitted to his Department since 15 January 2008; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what applications to his Department to use data from the national DNA database for research purposes have been refused since 13 June 2008; and if he will make a statement.

Alan Campbell: Two research applications have been submitted to the National DNA Database (NDNAD) Strategy Board since 15 January 2008. One application was from the European Network of Forensic Science Institutes (ENFSI). The ENFSI group has been awarded EC funding to improve the efficiency of DNA data exchange throughout Europe. In order to do this, it is necessary to build a computer simulation model to determine the current efficiency of DNA databases and to carry out a predictive analysis of the effect of not increasing the number of European core loci (i.e. the number of elements of DNA which are common to different countries' profiling systems). This application is still being considered.
	The second research application was from a specialist working group set up by the Forensic Science Regulator to verify the outputs of familial search algorithms. Familial searching is the term used to describe the process of searching the NDNAD for profiles which are similar but not identical to a DNA profile left at a crime scene. Such searches are approved only in serious cases and can provide police with a lead on the identity of an offender by providing matches with possible family members. This application has been approved.
	No research applications have been refused since 13 June 2008.

Entry Clearances

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the target time is for the processing of an application to the UK Border Agency for a sponsor licence; and what the  (a) average and  (b) maximum time taken to process an application for such a licence was in the latest period for which figures are available.

Phil Woolas: The target time for processing a sponsor licence application from 1 April 2009 is 20 working days. The average time taken to process an application is currently 34 days for applications received on or after 1 April 2009. This is due primarily to high volumes of applications in particular areas, each of which must be subject to a rigorous set of checks.
	The maximum time taken to process an application was 274 days which was due to delays in receiving information from the sponsor organisation and difficulties trying to arrange and conduct a pre-licensing visit.

Entry Clearances

David Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 1 June 2009,  Official Report, columns 168-69W, on immigration: EU nationals, what steps he is taking to ensure that EEA residence cards are issued no later than six months after the date on which the application and documents are received.

Phil Woolas: The Secretary of State has increased the resources committed to European casework. Improvements have also been made to the training and mentoring packages for caseworkers completing European applications, all of which has led to improved results.

Entry Clearances

Neil Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has established a timetable for the processing of applications for residence permits for  (a) EEA nationals and  (b) family members of EEA nationals.

Phil Woolas: The agency is committed to completing all EEA applications types within six months of date of receipt by the end of November 2009.

Immigration Controls

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications under the highly-skilled migrants programme have been refused because applicants' savings fell below the required level in each year that the scheme has operated.

Phil Woolas: The information is not available in the format requested because it is not centrally recorded.

Immigration Controls: Overseas Students

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many academic institutions have successfully registered as sponsors with the UK Border Agency under tier 4 of the points-based immigration system; and how many such institutions made applications to register which were rejected.

Phil Woolas: holding answer 27 April 2009
	 There are at present just less than 1,600 educational establishments on the register of sponsors under tier 4 of the points-based system.
	Over 500 applications for sponsorship have been unsuccessful, including those applications rejected, refused and withdrawn, of which around 30 were from organisations identifying themselves as universities or educational establishments.
	Figures provided have been rounded to the nearest five.
	The figures quoted are not provided under National Statistics protocols and have been derived from local management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change.

Immigration: Gurkhas

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the progress of reviewing the right to live in the UK of Gurkhas who retired before 1997.

Phil Woolas: holding answer 15 December 2008
	I refer the hon. Member to the announcement made by my right hon. Friend the former Home Secretary (Jacqui Smith) on 21 May 2009. Former members of the Brigade of Gurkhas discharged before 1 July 1997 and who have served a minimum of four years are now eligible to apply for settlement in the UK.

Members: Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  when he plans to reply to the letter to his predecessor of 29 April 2009 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Cindy Douglas.
	(2)  when he plans to reply to the letter to his predecessor of 27 April 2009 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr. M Ghosi;
	(3)  when he plans to reply to the letter to his predecessor of 23 April 2009 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mrs. Fazeelat Akhtar.

Alan Johnson: I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 16 June 2009.

Members: Correspondence

Michael Spicer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the Minister of State for Borders and Immigration plans to reply to the letter from the hon. Member for West Worcestershire of 28 April 2009, reference: M10251/9, on asylum and immigration policy.

Phil Woolas: A response was sent on 14 May 2009. A copy of that response was sent today.

Personal Records: Data Protection

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Epping Forest of 1 June 2009,  Official Report, column 174W, on personal records: data protection, for how long automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) data are retained; and under what circumstances ANPR data are deleted from the National ANPR Data Centre.

Alan Johnson: ACPO (Association of Chief Police Officers) guidance states that ANPR data may be retained for an initial 90 days after collection for viewing by authorised persons for post-crime interrogation and investigation. Data more than 90 days old may then be retained for up to two years if the operational need remains. However these data are partitioned from general viewing. Access is only permitted for major and serious investigations and requires authorisation in each case by a senior officer. This is in line with responsibilities under the Data Protection Act (1984 and 1998).
	The National ANPR Data Centre is currently under development and test. Once in live operational use, ANPR data will be deleted as required by police forces in discharging their responsibilities under the Act. Data not required to be retained for operational purposes will be deleted automatically after a prescribed period, and this period will be determined through agreement between the Association of Chief Police Officers, the National Policing Improvement Agency and the Information Commissioner's Office.

Police: Finance

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much gross revenue council tax police precepts raised in each year, after capping, in each police authority in England and Wales in each year since 1997-98.

David Hanson: The information requested is set out in the following table.
	The figures for 2009-10 for Surrey Police Authority are before capping. Any capping action is subject to approval of a draft order currently before the House.
	
		
			  Gross revenue council tax police precepts 
			   million 
			  Force  1997-98  1998-99  1999-2000  2000-01  2001-02  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09  2009-10 
			 Avon and Somerset 25.6 27.2 30.6 34.4 37.4 43.4 58.6 66.3 70.3 74.4 80.4 85.3 89.7 
			 Bedfordshire 9.5 10.2 11.3 12.5 13.3 15.0 18.0 20.9 22.1 23.4 24.7 27.5 28.7 
			 Cambridgeshire 11.7 11.2 12.3 14.9 16.5 23.1 28.0 32.6 34.6 36.7 39.4 42.0 44.5 
			 Cheshire 17.1 18.3 19.4 21.2 22.6 25.9 31.3 35.0 37.0 39.4 42.6 50.3 52.5 
			 Cleveland 8.6 7.6 9.9 10.4 11.2 15.5 19.5 22.4 23.8 25.1 26.5 29.3 30.8 
			 Cumbria 9.2 11.6 12.6 13.7 14.9 16.6 21.8 25.7 26.8 28.3 29.9 31.7 33.2 
			 Derbyshire 15.1 17.0 19.8 21.6 23.2 28.5 34.9 38.7 40.9 43.1 45.6 48.0 52.5 
			 Devon and Cornwall 26.3 25.8 28.9 32.2 34.2 41.2 58.2 65.8 70.1 74.2 78.6 85.7 90.4 
			 Dorset 16.6 18.6 20.7 22.7 24.9 28.1 33.8 37.9 40.5 42.8 45.4 47.9 50.5 
			 Durham 8.9 8.3 8.7 9.1 9.9 11.4 14.1 16.4 17.4 18.4 25.1 26.7 27.8 
			 Dyfed-Powys 8.2 10.2 12.6 14.9 16.1 17.5 22.4 26.1 28.0 29.9 31.8 33.9 35.7 
			 Essex 29.3 34.1 36.1 40.2 42.5 46.8 56.5 60.8 64.8 69.1 73.2 77.6 81.9 
			 Gloucestershire 10.0 11.4 13.8 15.8 16.8 19.4 29.6 33.0 34.6 36.7 38.9 41.1 42.7 
			 Greater Manchester 40.2 42.0 45.0 47.1 48.9 52.2 69.8 75.5 81.1 85.8 90.8 98.8 106.8 
			 Gwent 8.7 9.7 10.7 13.7 15.4 17.7 22.4 26.4 28.5 30.1 32.0 33.7 35.2 
			 Hampshire 31.8 31.1 33.6 34.7 37.5 48.2 62.8 70.9 75.0 79.3 84.0 91.6 96.7 
			 Hertfordshire 17.6 20.2 22.0 28.1 30.2 33.9 41.4 47.7 50.3 53.4 56.6 60.2 63.4 
			 Humberside 13.4 13.6 14.3 15.9 22.7 25.5 30.7 35.9 37.8 39.9 42.2 44.3 46.2 
			 Kent 28.7 27.2 29.8 31.9 34.8 42.8 55.9 63.0 67.0 70.9 75.2 79.7 84.3 
			 Lancashire 22.9 23.1 25 2 27.6 30.2 33.1 39.6 45.9 49.4 52.3 58.6 63.4 66.3 
			 Leicestershire 14.5 17.1 18.1 19.4 21.8 27.9 31.0 35.9 38.2 40.5 42.9 49.9 51.8 
			 Lincolnshire 13.4 15.5 16.3 17.5 18.7 19.9 22.3 24.3 26.2 28.0 29.7 38.1 40.3 
			 Merseyside 27.0 29.1 31.4 33.2 35.3 39.3 42.3 46.2 48.9 51.5 54.1 56.7 59.3 
			 Metropolitan 181.8 222.3 241.3 248.2 324.6 361.4 443.7 521.3 560.5 607.42 649.0 665.0 662.0 
			 Norfolk 13.0 14.0 17.0 19.3 22.6 27.4 33.7 39.0 41.3 44.0 47.4 52.0 54.5 
			 North Wales 11.2 13.6 15.7 18.8 20.0 23.6 31.3 38.0 42.4 45.0 48.5 51.2 54.0 
			 North Yorkshire 13.0 12.8 14.0 15.4 17.2 24.6 43.6 49.0 50.6 522 54.2 57.1 59.0 
			 Northamptonshire 13.4 13.4 15.1 16.0 17.0 22.0 27.7 32.2 33.7 36.0 38.2 40.9 43.1 
			 Northumbria 21.3 19.4 20.3 21.2 22.9 24.1 26.6 28.1 29.6 30.5 31.9 33.8 35.1 
			 Nottinghamshire 14.9 16.4 18.7 20.0 21.7 26.5 34.4 38.1 40.4 42.6 45.0 47.6 50.3 
			 South Wares 19.5 22.4 26.2 32.5 34.8 36.7 42.7 48.4 52.9 56.5 59.9 63.6 67.0 
			 South Yorkshire 18.9 19.3 20.2 21.2 22.6 26.9 34.4 38.0 40.0 42.3 44.7 47.0 48.8 
			 Staffordshire 17.7 23.6 25.8 27.5 31.5 34.0 43.1 47.5 50.3 53.4 56.4 58.8 61.4 
			 Suffolk 11.3 11.7 12.6 13.9 15.5 19.1 25.7 28.7 30.2 32.0 34.1 37.5 39.4 
			 Surrey 15.0 22.5 25.7 36.9 38.9 45.4 63.8 69.8 73.8 78.7 83.2 92.0 96.8 
			 Sussex 29.1 29.0 30.6 32.2 34.6 41.1 57.9 63.4 67.1 71.0 75.6 79.9 83.7 
			 Thames Valley 40.0 39.5 44.5 47.9 51.7 59.2 86.1 98.6 104.2 110.8 117.82 123.9 130.0 
			 Warwickshire 9.2 11.0 12.8 14.0 15.7 19.0 22.1 24.1 25.5 27.0 28.6 32.6 34.0 
			 West Mercia 19.7 21.1 23.4 29.8 32.0 43.0 49.7 57.9 60.7 64.3 68.0 71.7 75.5 
			 West Midlands 39.6 36.6 38.4 41.3 43.3 47.2 54.5 61.3 64.6 68.0 71.6 74.9 77.9 
			 West Yorkshire 31.8 31.8 33.5 36.2 37.9 47.8 56.1 64.7 69.0 73.2 77.8 82.3 85.5 
			 Wiltshire 11.8 13.6 15.1 16.8 18.7 20.7 25.2 27.9 29.6 31.6 33.6 35.6 37.7 
			  Sources:  English Police Authorises - Communities and Local Government Welsh Police Authorises - Welsh Assembly Government

Reparation by Offenders

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the use of mechanisms for restorative justice.

Claire Ward: I have been asked to reply.
	Following the final report of the evaluation of the crime reduction programme restorative justice pilots, our assessment of the effectiveness of restorative justice for adults is that it can deliver high levels of victim satisfaction and can be a positive service for victims if delivered appropriately and sensitively. It may also help to reduce reoffending.

Security Guards: Licensing

Mark Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will bring forward proposals to require directly-employed security guards to be licensed.

Alan Campbell: The Security Industry Authority (SIA) recently conducted a review of whether in-house security guards should be licensed.
	The SIA concluded that there was no clearly defined or substantiated risk to public protection that would justify extending the licensing requirement to include in-house security guards. Ministers agreed with this conclusion and asked the SIA to review the matter again in the future. The SIA intend to conduct the review in 2012-13, but will do so earlier if evidence of criminality is identified.
	The review was published on the SIA website in May 2009 at:
	http://www.the-sia.org.uk/home/licensing/in-house.htm

UK Border Agency: Public Consultation

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much the UK Border Agency and its predecessors spent on consultants in each of the last five years.

Phil Woolas: The amounts spent by the UK Border Agency and its predecessors on consultancy are shown in the following table. Information is not available on the spend for 2004-05 except at disproportionate cost.
	
		
			  UKBA five-year consultancy spend 
			   
			   Breakdown of consultancy costs for UKBA  FY 2004-05( 1)  FY 2005-06  FY 2006-07  FY 2007-08  FY 2008-09 
			 72504  Administrative ConsultancyImplementation 6,413,345 3,238,876 1,408,508 1,008,667 167,699 
			 72501 ConsultancyManagement 7,695,527 1,420,733 3,277,637 3,765,022 5,392,701 
			 72502 ConsultancyIT 5,494,501 5,292 29,337 517,530 1,894,993 
			 72503 ConsultancyAccommodation 14,070,757 293,090 490,469 295,559 121,275 
			 72534 ConsultancyAdvice104,879 478,384 
			 72558  Programme ConsultancyAdvice889,502 3,901,646 
			 72560 ConsultanciesManagement  1,774,537 3,080,246 15,517,051 15,051,823 
			 72561 ConsultanciesIT  5,615,396 4,705,034 5,544,364 2,054,586 
			 72562 ConsultanciesAccommodation  12,414,256 6,603,016 3,715,016 1,253,129 
			 72555 ConsultanciesOther (programme costs) 58 29,356,401 24,271,119 3,460,274 2,269,130 
			
			  Adjusted for +1.3m against 0148 UKBA Inter) 1.3m 
			
			  Total 33,674,188 54,118,580 43,865,365 34,817,865 33,885,366 
			 (1) The 2004-05 data represent the first year of a new financial database and thus do not represent a full year's consultancy cost

Waste Management: Prosecutions

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prosecutions have been sought under section 33 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 in each local authority area in the South West in each of the last five years; and how many such prosecutions were successful.

Claire Ward: I have been asked to reply.
	The number of defendants who were proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts for offences under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 sec. 33, in England and Wales, 2003 to 2007 (latest available) is shown in the table.
	It is not possible to identify data at local authority area level, as the data are not collected at this level of detail. Police force area data for the South West region have been provided in lieu.
	These data are on the principal offence basis. The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offence for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences, the offence selected is the one for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.
	Court proceedings data for 2008 will be available in the autumn of 2009.
	Prosecution figures are only for cases taken through the court system and do not reflect the full range of enforcement actions available to local authorities.
	In 2007-08 local authorities took a wide range of additional enforcement actions against fly-tippers, including warning letters, statutory notices, formal cautions and injunctions.
	
		
			  Number of defendants who were proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts for offences under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 sec.33, in the South West area, by police force area 2003 to 2007( 1,2,3,4) 
			  Offence code :  9115, 9116, 9137 
			   Proceeded against  Found guilty 
			  Police force area (PFA)/region  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007 
			 Avon and Somerset PFA 3 1 5 4 11 3 1 2 3 9 
			 Devon and Cornwall PPA 16 25 22 16 30 11 20 21 10 25 
			 Dorset PFA 1 0 6 9 3 2 1 3 3 3 
			 Gloucestershire PFA 2 0 4 3 5 2 0 4 2 4 
			 Wiltshire PFA 3 8 5 3 7 5 7 4 2 6 
			 South West Region 25 34 42 35 56 23 29 34 20 47 
			 (1) The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts, and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (3) Includes the following statutes and corresponding offence descriptions: 9115Environmental Protection Act 1990 sec.33(8). Depositing, causing the deposition or permitting the deposition, treating, keeping or disposing of controlled (but not special) waste in or on land without a licence. 9116Environmental Protection Act 1990 sec.33(9). Depositing, causing the deposition or permitting the deposition of controlled special waste in or on land without a licence. 9137Environmental Protection Act 1990 sec.33(6). Contravening conditions of a waste management licence. (4) The found guilty column may exceed those proceeded against, as it may be the case that the proceedings in the magistrates court took place in the proceeding year and they were found guilty at the Crown court in the following year.  Source: OCJRE and A: Office for Criminal Justice ReformEvidence and Analysis Unit, Ministry of Justice

Wildlife: Crime

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the total revenue from fines for offences related to wildlife crime was in each of the last 10 years.

Claire Ward: I have been asked to reply.
	The total revenue from fines for any particular offence is not collected by the courts.

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Carbon Emissions: Standards

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what timetable he has set for completion of his Department's consultation on the term carbon neutral; how many responses to that consultation have been received to date; and if he will make a statement.

Joan Ruddock: The consultation closed on 21 May 2009. There were 59 responses; they are currently being considered in detail. A summary of the responses, and an explanation of our intended next steps, will be published later this year.

DEFENCE

Air Force: Military Aircraft

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many RAF aircraft are in service; and what the  (a) target and  (b) actual number of each type of RAF aircraft fit for purpose is.

Quentin Davies: Information on the numbers of aircraft in service and fit for purpose (FFP) is given in the following table. Target figures are not used for all aircraft types and are included only where appropriate. The figures shown are a snapshot of the position on 31 May 2009.
	
		
			  Aircraft type  In service fleet  Target FFP  Actual FFP 
			 BAe 146 2 1 1 
			 BAe 125 6 3 3 
			 C-17 6 5 3 
			 Dominie 9  7 
			 Harrier 74  46 
			 Hawk Tl 129  88 
			 Hawk T2 8  6 
			 Hercules CI30K 14 7 7 
			 Hercules CI30J 24 15 14 
			 Nimrod MR2 11 8 6 
			 Nimrod R1 3 1 1 
			 Sea King (SARF) 25 17 10 
			 Sentinel 5 4 3 
			 Sentry 7 5 4 
			 Tornado F3 62  28 
			 Tornado GR4 138  89 
			 TriStar 9 6 4 
			 Tucano 95  55 
			 Typhoon 56  37 
			 VC10 16 12 9 
			 Vigilant 64  64 
			 Viking 82  82 
		
	
	'In service' has been taken to mean the effective fleet, which covers all aircraft barring those which are redundant, declared as surplus or awaiting disposal. Serviceable aircraft available to the front line commands for operational and training purposes are termed fit for purpose (FFP). Aircraft which are undergoing major servicing or routine maintenance are within the depth fleet and are therefore not relevant to this question.
	Additionally, in the process of answering this question an error in the TriStar 'in-service' fleet number has been identified in the written answer I provided to you on 23 April 2009,  Official Report, column 812W. The answer I provided stated that there were eight TriStars 'in-service' but the correct answer should have stated there were nine. This error occurred as one aircraft has been undergoing a major cockpit upgrade and was mistakenly not included in the 'in-service' fleet number.

Armed Forces: Housing

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many and what percentage of forces' accommodation units are in each condition grade in each region in England.

Kevan Jones: The following table is the best available breakdown of service families accommodation by location based on the Department's housing regions, and is correct as at 25 March 2009. This updates information given in my answer of 30 March 2009,  Official Report, column 884W, and my written ministerial statement of 17 March 2009,  Official Report, columns 43-44WS, and reflects further verification and analysis work including that carried out with the National Audit Office.
	
		
			   S1fC  S2fC  S3fC  S4fC   
			  Housing region  No.  %  No.  %  No.  %  No.  %  Not assessed  Total 
			 East 1,930 40.55 2,599 54.61 213 4.47 17 0.36 1,618 6,377 
			 London 1,179 20.65 3,613 63.31 800 14.02 115 2.01 1,728 7,435 
			 North 2,092 52.55 1,750 43.96 112 2.81 27 0.68 1,400 5,381 
			 South East 2,797 35.47 4,631 58.73 345 4.37 112 1.42 1,737 9,622 
			 Southwest 2,255 27.04 5,664 67.92 344 4.13 76 0.91 1,953 10,292 
			 West (inc Wales) 1,338 45.34 1,518 51.44 89 3.02 6 0.20 9,10 3,861 
			 PFI Properties/Hirings 2,005 2,005 
			 Total 11,591 34.47 19,775 58.82 1,903 5.66 353 1.05 11,351 44,973 
		
	
	Data for the condition of service families accommodation will be updated on a quarterly basis beginning from July 2009, and the information will be placed in the Library of the House.

Atomic Weapons Establishment

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what quantities of  (a) intermediate and  (b) low level radioactive waste are held at the Atomic Weapons Establishment.

Quentin Davies: The quantity of intermediate level radioactive waste currently held at the Atomic Weapons Establishment is 4,095 cu m. The quantity of low level radioactive waste currently held there is 680 cu m.

Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft

Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the estimated hourly flying time cost is of  (a) the Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft and  (b) each air-to-air service provider.

Quentin Davies: After full system delivery of the Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft the average hourly flying time cost for military usage is estimated to be 20,000. This rate includes all costs associated with provision of military capability (including Defensive Aids Suite), aircraft support, training and associated infrastructure. No equivalent cost is currently available from a commercial air-to-air service provider.

Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft

Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on what date he expects the Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft to enter service.

Quentin Davies: The Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft (FSTA) introduction to service is planned to begin in 2011, with the full service being available by 2016.

Joint Strike Fighter Aircraft

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Joint Strike Fighter aircraft his Department plans to purchase in the next five years.

Quentin Davies: The procurement process for the Joint Strike Fighter remains at a very early stage. We have not taken the final investment decision and at this stage cannot, therefore, confirm overall numbers or the in-service date. The first investment decision was announced by the Secretary of State on 18 March 2009,  Official Report, column 53WS. The decision enables the UK to conduct, alongside the US, a joint Initial Operational Test and Evaluation programme and entails the acquisition of three aircraft, provision of training equipment and support during the trials and a further two years contributions to the Production, Sustainment and Follow-on Development Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2006. Subject to successful testing, we plan to buy further production aircraft incrementally to build up to Initial and then Full Operating Capability.

Low Flying: Complaints

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many complaints about low-flying military aircraft have been received by each military establishment in the UK in each of the last five years.

Kevan Jones: This information is not held in the format requested. The Air Staff, Low Flying Complaints and Enquiries Unit, (CEU) is the organisation responsible for recording complaints about aircraft operating in the UK Military Low Flying system. Complaints may be received direct from the public, or via military units, but records are not maintained of which unit has passed on a particular complaint to the Complaints and Enquiries Unit. Complaints about aircraft operating within the Military Air Traffic Zone surrounding an airbase are normally dealt with by the operating unit directly, and are not included in the centrally recorded figures.
	The figures provided in the following table are the total of low flying complaints received at the CEU in each of the last five years.
	
		
			  Date  Complaints recorded 
			 1 June 2004 to 31 May 2005 4,461 
			 1 June 2005 to 31 May 2006 4,536 
			 1 June 2006 to 31 May 2007 4,707 
			 1 June 2007 to 31 May 2008 3,774 
			 1 June 2008 to 31 May 2009 3,472

Military Aircraft

Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the hourly cost of air-to-air refuelling of an RAF VC10 is.

Quentin Davies: The full-cost hourly rate of operating a VC10 tanker in the air for financial year 2009-10 is calculated to be 29,235. This figure incorporates a variety of costs to enable an aircraft to operate, such as personnel costs, servicing of the aircraft and fuelling of the aircraft. It does not include the costs of the fuel payload VC10s carry to refuel other aircraft.

Military Aircraft

Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the out-of-service dates are for the  (a) VC10 and  (b) TriStar fleets.

Quentin Davies: Under current planning assumptions, the next VC10 will go out-of-service in June 2010 with the last of the fleet going out-of-service in September 2014. This progressive rundown is designed to ensure the smooth and efficient transition of air refuelling capability to the replacement Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft.
	The out-of-service dates of the TriStar KCl and C2 aircraft have been extended by one year to 2016 in order to allow the replacement capability, Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft, to be fitted with the most up-to-date protective measures for flying into operational areas. The out-of-service dates of both the VC10 and TriStar are kept under constant review as part of the Department's internal planning process.

Military Aircraft

Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what contractual support arrangements there are for the  (a) RAF VC10 and  (b) TriStar fleets; and what the cost was in each case in each of the last two years.

Quentin Davies: Maintenance of the RAF VC10 fleet is provided by BAE Systems under a partnering agreement called JAVELIN (joint approach to VC10 engineering and logistics integration). Logistic support for the Conway engines used on the VC10 is provided by Rolls-Royce plc and engine repairs are undertaken by Vector Aerospace.
	The RAF TriStar fleet is supported by the TriStar integrated operational support contract (TRIOS) with Marshall of Cambridge (Aerospace) Ltd. TRIOS excludes the RB211 engines which are contractually supported by Rolls-Royce plc, the auxiliary power units which are contractually supported by Euravia and the air-to-air refuelling equipment which is supported under the VC10 JAVELIN contract.
	The cost of these contractual support arrangements is contained in the following table:
	
		
			   million 
			   Aircraft 
			  Financial year  VC10  TriStar 
			 2007-08 77 21 
			 2008-09 70 24 
			  Note: Costs have been rounded to the nearest million.

Military Aircraft

Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many equipment failure reports there were in respect of  (a) TriStar and  (b) VC10 aircraft in each year since 2003.

Quentin Davies: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	A Serious Fault Signal (SFS) is the reporting method used to notify the discovery of a fault that may have immediate and serious implications to an aircraft fleet, or range of equipment. The figures provided in the following table are the number of SFS reports received which are directly attributed to the TriStar and VC10.
	
		
			   Tri S tar  VC10 
			 2003 (1) 0 
			 2004 3 4 
			 2005 0 2 
			 2006 0 2 
			 2007 2 1 
			 2008 2 4 
			 2009(2) 1 4 
			 (1) Records for 2003 are not held centrally. (2) Up until 1 June, the last full month for which data are available.

Navy: Military Aircraft

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the merits of transferring control of the Fleet Air Arm to the Royal Air Force.

Bill Rammell: holding answer 16 June 2009
	No such assessment has been made.

Nuclear Weapons

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many activities requiring the permission of the Defence Nuclear Weapons Regulator have been authorised at Royal Naval Armament Depot Coulport since July 2007.

Quentin Davies: There has been no change to the scope of nuclear activities at the Royal Naval Armament Depot Coulport since July 2007. No additional permissions have, therefore, been required from the Defence Nuclear Safety Regulator, which includes the Nuclear Weapons Regulator.

BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS

Departmental Reorganisation

Lorely Burt: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what the cost of establishing the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills was.

Patrick McFadden: The cost of setting up the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills in June 2007 was met within the existing departmental budgets of the former Department for Education and Skills (now Department for Children, Schools and Families) and the former Department for Trade and Industry.

Higher Education: Student Numbers

David Willetts: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many  (a) applicants and  (b) accepted applicants to full-time undergraduate courses in England there were in each year between 1979 and 1997; and how many such applicants were domiciled in (i) England, (ii) Wales, (iii) Scotland and (iv) Northern Ireland.

David Lammy: Information for the years 1994 to 1997 is given in the first and second tables. The figures cover students who apply to full-time undergraduate courses via UCAS. UCAS does not cover applications to part-time undergraduate or postgraduate courses, or students who apply directly to institutions. Prior to the formation of UCAS in 1994, figures were published separately for the two admission systems, the Universities Central Council on Admissions (UCCA) and the Polytechnic and College Admission Service (PCAS). The data for accepted applicants for these years are shown in the third and fourth tables. Comparable data for applicants are not available.
	
		
			  Applicants to full-time undergraduate courses in England via UCAS 1994 - 97 
			   UK domiciled students 
			  Year of entry  England  Wales  Scotland  Northern Ireland  Grand  t otal 
			 1994 296,950 13,908 6,827 8,727 326,412 
			 1995 287,977 12,903 7,236 8,801 316,917 
			 1996 282,018 12,459 6,768 7,524 308,769 
			 1997 305,374 13,432 7,680 8,205 334,691 
			  Source:  UCAS 
		
	
	
		
			  Accepted applicants to full-time undergraduate courses in England via UCAS 1994-97 
			   UK domiciled applicants 
			   England  Wales  Scotland  Northern Ireland  Grand total 
			 1994 198,065 6,215 1,638 1,989 207,907 
			 1995 208,439 6,199 1,848 2,110 218,596 
			 1996 208,873 6,026 1,851 2,248 218,998 
			 1997 239,550 6,869 2,610 2,506 251,535 
			  Notes on UCAS applicant data.: The applicant figures cover applicants submitting one or more applications to an English institution (in 1994/95 each applicant could submit up to eight applications; this was reduced to six from 1995/96, and to five from 2008/09). Students in this table applying to English institutions may also have applied to institutions in one or more of the other home countries, and some may have been accepted to institutions in those countries.  Source: UCAS 
		
	
	
		
			  Accepted applicants to full-time undergraduate courses in England via UCCA 1979 to 1993 
			   UK domiciled students 
			   England  Wales  Scotland  Northern Ireland  Total 
			 1979 57,749 2,149 671 671 61,240 
			 1980 58,998 2,184 698 722 62,602 
			 1981(1)  
			 1982(1)  
			 1983 52,398 2,028 627 656 55,709 
			 1984(1)  
			 1985 53,369 2,043 741 683 56,836 
			 1986(1)  
			 1987(1)  
			 1988 56,088 2,390 791 865 60,134 
			 1989 60,502 2,395 777 795 64,469 
			 1990 70,625 2,636 903 912 75,076 
			 1991 76,679 2,678 853 816 81,026 
			 1992 85,069 3,023 952 904 89,948 
			 1993 93,427 3,109 909 924 98,369 
			 (1) Published information on acceptances to English HEIs only is not available for every year.  Source: UCCA annual published reports 
		
	
	
		
			  Accepted applicants to full-time undergraduate courses in England via PCAS 1986 to 1993 
			   UK domiciled students 
			   England  Wales  Scotland  Northern Ireland  UK unknown  Total 
			 1986 32,454 1,454 232 529 20 34,689 
			 1987 31,572 1,521 253 677 103 34,126 
			 1988 35,664 1,546 267 675 26 38,178 
			 1989 53,301 2,193 359 1,140 6 56,999 
			 1990 69,653 2,659 440 1,278 7 74,037 
			 1991 85,461 2,897 547 1,292 25 90,222 
			 1992 110,434 3,303 1,148 1,372 0 116,257 
			 1993 112,492 3,101 1,102 1,102 0 117,797 
			  Source: PCAS annual published reports

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Council Tax

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what his Department's policy is on who should be responsible for making council tax payments for private sector rented properties.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The Government policy on who is liable for council tax is set out in section 6 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992. We have no plans to change this.

Council Tax

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance is provided to local councils on the level of council tax that should be paid on second homes.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Communities and Local Government has not issued any guidance to local councils on the level of council tax that should be paid on second homes. The administration of council tax is the responsibility of individual local authorities and it is they who set the levels of council tax, including any discounts or exemptions.

Council Tax: Overpayments

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will bring forward legislative proposals for local authorities to be required to pay interest to council taxpayers in respect of overpayments of council tax.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Bromley and Chislehurst on 12 February 2009,  Official Report, 2214-15W.

Departmental Press: Subscriptions

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government to which  (a) magazines,  (b) journals and  (c) newspapers his Department subscribes; and what the cost of such subscriptions has been in each of the last three years.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Eco-Towns: Internet

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 9 February 2009,  Official Report, column 1690W, on eco-towns: internet, 
	(1)  how many  (a) unique visitors and  (b) page impressions have been received by the ecotownsyoursay.direct.gov.uk website to date;
	(2)  what the cost to his Department of the ecotownsyoursay.direct.gov.uk website has been to date.

John Healey: The full cost to the Department of the website
	www.direct.gov.uk/ecotownsyoursay
	for the financial year 2008-09 will be published shortly after the Department's annual report on the Department's website.
	Between 4 November 2008 when the
	www.direct.gov.uk/ecotownsyoursay
	website was set up and 31 March 2009 it had received 33,220 unique visitors and 164,727 page impressions. Annual statistics on visits will be made available.

Local Government: Political Activities

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what timetable has been set for changing the political restrictions on council group political assistants.

Rosie Winterton: Any decision will be made as part of our continuing oversight of the framework for ensuring there is clarity about political roles in local government.

Non-domestic Rates

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent research his Department has  (a) evaluated and  (b) commissioned on the effect of a universal business rate on local economies.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: No such research has been commissioned or evaluated by Communities and Local Government.

Non-Domestic Rates

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps his Department takes in respect of the performance of local authorities with national non-domestic rates collection rates below the national average.

Rosie Winterton: The collection of council tax and business rates is a matter for local authorities. The 2007-08 in-year collection rate for non-domestic rates in England was 98.8 per cent.

Olympic Games 2012

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many full-time equivalent members of staff in  (a) his Department and  (b) its associated public bodies are working on projects relating to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games; how many of them are working on (i) project management, (ii) legacy planning, (iii) project oversight and (iv) financial oversight; and what plans he has for future staffing levels in each case.

Shahid Malik: For Communities and Local Government as at 1 July there will be approximately nine full-time equivalent staff working on different aspects of the Olympic programme within the central Department. Within this figure around three full-time equivalents work on project and legacy management; three on project oversight; and one on financial oversight. The remainder, two full-time equivalents, work on administration and specialist risk management. There are no immediate plans for a change in the staffing levels but this will be kept under review.
	Within the Homes and Communities Agency and the London Thames Gateway Development Corporation, work on London 2012 Olympic issues is carried out as it arises in the course of normal business.

Written Questions: Government Responses

Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when he plans to answer question 280051, tabled on 10 June 2009, on the Home Owner Mortgage Protection Scheme.

John Healey: I have replied to the hon. Member's question.

HEALTH

Benzodiazepines

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent research the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has evaluated on the safety of use of benzodiazepine tranquillisers in clinical practice; and whether it plans to  (a) update product information for prescribers and patients and  (b) take other steps in response to the findings of such research.

Mike O'Brien: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) continuously monitors the safety of all medicines in routine clinical practice in the United Kingdom, and where necessary, takes suitable action to safeguard public health.
	The MHRA uses a variety of methods of collecting information on medicines safety in clinical use. Health care professionals and patients are encouraged to report suspected adverse drug reactions via the Yellow Card Scheme, including the occurrence of dependence and addiction. Pharmaceutical companies are legally obliged to report such cases to the MHRA. These data are carefully and regularly screened to identify possible new drug safety signals.
	No new safety signals have been identified recently in relation to benzodiazepines which would require further regulatory action individually or as a class. As new data become available the MHRA keeps the need for regulatory action under review.
	The current product information for health care professionals and patients accurately reflects the information known about the risks associated with benzodiazepine use and includes extensive warnings. Patient information leaflets are now being user tested to ensure that the advice is clear and accessible for patients.

Carers: Telephone Services

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the hours of operation are of the Carers Direct hotline.

Phil Hope: The Carers Direct helpline is available from 8 am to 9 pm, Monday to Friday, and 11 am to 4 pm at weekends.

Healthy Start Scheme

Jeff Ennis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the relationship is between his Department's Healthy Start scheme and its Change4Life initiative.

Gillian Merron: Healthy Start is a United Kingdom-wide statutory scheme providing a nutritional safety net and encouragement for breastfeeding and healthy eating to pregnant women and families with young children getting one of a range of state benefits or tax credits. The Department manages delivery of the scheme on behalf of all four UK Governments, ensuring that nutritional messages given through the scheme, and any branding used, are acceptable to all of them.
	Change4Life is an England-based communications campaign that encourages all families in England to eat healthily and engage in regular physical activity, so reducing levels of obesity. We ensure that both Healthy Start and Change4Life are delivered in a coherent way so that the impact of nutritional messages common to both can be maximised.

Heart Diseases: Health Services

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 21 May 2009,  Official Report, column 1596W, on heart disease 
	(1)  how many finished consultant episodes for congenital heart disease in those aged 16 years old there were in each primary care trust area in 2007-08;
	(2)  how many of those consultant episodes involving a consultant whose specialism was paediatric cardiology there were in each NHS hospital trust.

Ann Keen: The following tables and notes show how many finished consultant episodes for congenital heart disease in those aged 16 years old there were in primary care trust areas (where data have been submitted) in 2007-08. They also show, for grown-ups with congenital heart disease, how many consultant episodes involved a consultant whose specialism was paediatric cardiology in each national health service hospital trust.
	
		
			  Count of finished consultant episodes for congenital heart disease *  for those aged 16 only, by primary care trust (PCT) of treatment, 2007-08. Activity in English NHS hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector 
			  PCT code  PCT name  Total episodes 
			 5D7 Newcastle PCT * 
			 5J9 Darlington PCT * 
			 5K7 Camden PCT 31 
			 5L1 Southampton City PCT * 
			 5LA Kensington and Chelsea PCT 26 
			 5LD Lambeth PCT * 
			 5LE Southwark PCT 7 
			 5M1 South Birmingham PCT * 
			 5MX Heart of Birmingham Teaching PCT 7 
			 5N1 Leeds PCT 8 
			 5N4 Sheffield PCT * 
			 5N6 Derbyshire County PCT * 
			 5N9 Lincolnshire Teaching PCT * 
			 5NL Liverpool PCT 10 
			 5NT Manchester PCT * 
			 5NV North Yorkshire and York PCT * 
			 5P2 Bedfordshire PCT * 
			 5P8 Hastings and Rother PCT * 
			 5PC Leicester City PCT 10 
			 5PW North East Essex PCT * 
			 5QE Oxfordshire PCT * 
			 5QJ Bristol PCT * 
			 5QQ Devon PCT * 
			  Total 130 
		
	
	
		
			  Count of finished consultant episodes for congenital heart disease* for those aged 16 and over by paediatric cardiology specialty and hospital provider, 2007-08. Activity in English NHS Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector 
			  Hospital provider code  Hospital provider name  Total  e pisodes 
			 RA7 United Bristol Healthcare NHS Trust 56 
			 RBS Royal Liverpool Children's NHS Trust 15 
			 RHM Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust * 
			 RJ1 Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust 61 
			 RP4 Great Ormond Street Hospital For Children NHS Trust 264 
			 RQ3 Birmingham Children's Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 13 
			 RR8 Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust 76 
			 RT3 Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Trust 14 
			 RTH Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust * 
			 RWE University Hospitals Of Leicester NHS Trust 84 
			  Total 593 
			  Notes:   Consultant main specialty This defines the specialty under which the consultant responsible for the care of the patient at that time is registered. Care is needed when analysing Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data by specialty, or by groups of specialties (such as acute). Trusts have different ways of managing specialties and attributing codes so it is better to analyse by specific diagnoses, operations or other patient or service information.  Ungrossed data Figures have not been adjusted for shortfalls in data (i.e. the data are ungrossed). Finished Consultant Episode (FCE). A finished consultant episode (FCE) is defined as a continuous period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one health care provider. FCEs are counted against the year in which they end. The figures do not represent the number of different patients, as a person may have more than one episode of care within the same stay in hospital or in different stays in the same year.  Primary diagnosis The primary diagnosis is the first of up to 20 (14 from 2002-03 to 2006-07 and seven prior to 2002-03) diagnosis fields in the HES data set and provides the main reason why the patient was admitted to hospital. *The following ICD-10 codes have been used: Q20Congenital malformations of cardiac chambers and connections Q21Congenital malformations of cardiac septa Q22Congenital malformations of pulmonary and tricuspid valves Q23Congenital malformations of aortic and mitral valves Q24Other congenital malformations of heart.  Data quality HES are compiled from data sent by more than 300 NHS trusts and primary care trusts (PCTs) in England. Data are also received from a number of independent sector organisations for activity commissioned by the English NHS. The NHS Information Centre for health and social care liaises closely with these organisations to encourage submission of complete and valid data and seeks to minimise inaccuracies and the effect of missing and invalid data via HES processes. While this brings about improvement over time, some shortcomings remain.  Small numbers To protect patient confidentiality, figures between 1 and 5 have been suppressed and replaced with * (an asterisk). Where it was possible to identify numbers from the total due to a single suppressed number in a row or column, an additional number (the next smallest) has been suppressed.  PCT/SHA data quality PCT and SHA data were added to historic data years in the HES database using 2002-03 boundaries, as a one-off exercise in 2004. The quality of the data on PCT of treatment and SHA of treatment is poor in 1996-97, 1997-98 and 1998-99, with over a third of all finished episodes having missing values in these years. Data quality of PCT of general practitioner (GP) practice and SHA of GP practice in 1997-98 and 1998-99 is also poor, with a high proportion missing values where practices changed or ceased to exist. There is less change in completeness of the residence-based fields over time, where the majority of unknown values are due to missing postcodes on birth episodes. Users of time series analysis including these years need to be aware of these issues in their interpretation of the data.  Hospital providers A provider code is a unique code that identifies an organisation acting as a health care provider (e.g. NHS trust or PCT). Hospital providers can also include Treatment Centres (TC). Treatment Centres (also known as Diagnostic Centres) provide elective (planned) surgery for a range of conditions, mainly for day surgery or short-term hospital stay patients. Some Treatment Centres are attached to hospital trusts and HES enables data for these to be separately identified from the rest of the health care provider's data. It does this by adding TC to the trust code; if there is more than one per Trust T1, T2, T3 etc. are suggested unless already in use by the trust. Activity performed in the remainder of the trust is identified by the health care provider code being followed by an 'X'. Hospital providers beginning with an 'N' indicates an independent sector health care provider.  Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), The NHS Information Centre for health and social care.

Hillsborough Stadium: Disclosure of Information

Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress his Department has made in identifying files and documents it holds relating to the Hillsborough disaster that can be released.

Phil Hope: The Department, in partnership with other Departments, is currently developing a Government-wide approach in close liaison with local agencies in South Yorkshire and beyond.

Influenza

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance his Department has issued on the provision to local authorities of influenza pandemic preparedness plans produced by  (a) primary care trusts,  (b) hospital trusts,  (c) health protection units and  (d) local resilience forums; and what guidance has been issued on co-operation between health authorities and local authorities on (i) overview and (ii) scrutiny of such plans.

Gillian Merron: All departmental guidance, whether produced primarily for the health or social care sector, emphasises the need for multi-agency planning and response.
	Local Resilience Forums (LRFs) and Influenza Planning Committees (IPCs) are multi-agency groups, with representatives from primary care trusts (PCTs), local authorities (human resources, emergency planners, adult and children's social care leads, coroners), acute hospital trusts, health protection units, independent and third sector providers, and the police. Multi-agency Local Strategic Partnerships (LSPs), chaired by a chief executive, may also approve final pandemic flu plans.
	PCTs have lead responsibility for pandemic planning and response locally. It is the role of the PCT to consult with its partner local authority and to share plans. Some local authority social care departments have a joint pandemic flu plan with their local PCT.
	The Department has produced guidance for PCTs stating the duty on national health service organisations to consult local overview and scrutiny committees if they are considering substantial variations in local health services. However, it is for individual local authorities to present such plans to relevant overview and scrutiny committees.
	The Department has also produced comprehensive guidance for social care commissioners and providers and these also emphasise the importance of joint working. Copies of the guidance, which consists of nine modules (eight of which have been published) have been placed in the Library.

Intensive Care

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the likely effects of an influenza pandemic on demand for intensive care beds; and whether he has made an estimate of the number of such beds likely to be required for the purposes of treating influenza patients during such a pandemic.

Gillian Merron: The number of critical care beds required in a flu pandemic will depend upon a range of factors such as the clinical attack rate, the most 'at risk' population and the number of flu victims requiring intensive care. An estimate has, therefore, not been made.
	In the Managing Demand and Capacity in Health Care Organisations (Surge) guidance, we have advised that, within their local flu contingency plans, acute hospitals will aim to double the number of critical care beds available (i.e. increase them by 100 per cent.), but that this will have an impact on the level of care that will be provided. Meeting the immediate demand could be achieved by reallocating staff from non-emergency areas of care in order to support the delivery of critical care to meet this increased demand, should it become necessary.
	A copy of the current Managing Demand and Capacity (Surge) guidance has been placed in the Library.

Knee Replacements

Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average waiting time for knee replacement operations was in  (a) Halton, Cheshire and  (b) England in each year since 2001.

Mike O'Brien: Median time waited (days) for knee replacement operations(1) for Halton and St. Helens Primary Care Trust (PCT) of residence (2006-07, 2007-08), Halton PCT (2001-02 to 2005-06) and England are shown in the following table.
	(1) The main procedure is the first recorded procedure or intervention in the Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data set and is usually the most resource intensive procedure or intervention performed during the episode.
	
		
			Median  t ime waited (days) 
			   Primary Care Trust of residence  Regional  National (England) 
			 2007-08 Halton and St Helens Primary Care Trust 96 114 
			 2006-07 Halton and St Helens Primary Care Trust 148 156 
			 2005-06 Halton Primary Care Trust 193 169 
			 2004-05 Halton Primary Care Trust 252 203 
			 2003-04 Halton Primary Care Trust 262 253 
			 2002-03 Halton Primary Care Trust 309 281 
			 2001-02 Halton Primary Care Trust 380 277 
			  Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), The NHS Information Centre for health and social care

Learning Disability: Employment Services

Angela Watkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether his Department provides support to organisations which offer assistance to individuals with learning difficulties in securing jobs.

Phil Hope: Valuing Employment NowReal Jobs for People with Learning Disabilitiesa new cross-government strategy to radically improve employment opportunities for people with learning disabilities in England, will be published very shortly.

Mental Health Services

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make it his policy to assess the adequacy of provision of mental health services for people of each  (a) age group,  (b) sex and  (c) race.

Phil Hope: The responsibility for service provision by the national health service, including mental health care, and for ensuring that this meets the healthcare needs of local communities rests with each primary care trust. To support them in this, we are running through the national mental health development units programmes of work promoting race equality, age equality and gender equality.
	The National Service Framework for mental health (NSF) draws to an end in 2009. The Government and key stakeholders are seeking a new, equally powerful approach to help strategic health authorities deliver their regional visions and to build on the achievements of the NSF through the New Horizons programme.
	We will publish an equalities impact assessment of the New Horizons consultation document when this is published later this summer. The equality impact assessment is intended to ensure that New Horizons address the inequalities that different groups in society experience, both in accessing services and in levels of mental health, and will inform the national direction of travel from 2010.

NHS

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which NHS organisations he has visited in the last three months.

Phil Hope: Visits to national health service organisations by the Secretary of State for Health between 1 March 2009 to 31 May 2009 are shown in the following table.
	
		
			  NHS  o rganisation  Date 
			  March  
			 Queen Victoria Hospital, London 3 March 2009 
			 Kings College Hospital, London 10 March 2009 
			 Merlyn Vaz Health and Social Care Centre, Leicester 13 March 2009 
			 Hugglescote Surgery, Leicestershire 13 March 2009 
			 Stafford Hospital, Stafford 26 March 2009 
			   
			  April  
			 Charing Cross Hospital, London 1 April 2009 
			 Ashton Primary Care Centre, Ashton under Lyne 8 April 2009 
			 Chorley and Ribble Hospital, Chorley 8 April 2009 
			 Hillingdon Hospital, London 13 April 2009 
			 Washington Primary Care Centre, Sunderland 23 April 2009 
			   
			  May  
			 Royal Brompton Hospital, London 6 May 2009 
			 Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, London 28 May 2009 
			 Scarborough Hospital, Scarborough 29 May 2009

Palliative Care

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department has taken to implement the National service framework for long-term conditions; and what assessment he has made of his Department's effectiveness in doing so.

Ann Keen: Responsibility for implementing the national service framework (NSF) for long-term conditions rests with local health and social care organisations. The NSF has a 10-year implementation phase, with the expectation that health and social care organisations plan and deliver service improvements in line with local priorities and needs over the period of implementation.
	The National Service Framework for Long Term Conditions: National Support for Local Implementation, published in May 2008, provides an overview of the resources, tools and guidance provided by the Department and others to support local implementation of the NSF. A copy has been placed in the Library.
	We have not assessed the Department's effectiveness in supporting local organisations to implement the NSF.

Strokes: Rural Areas

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how his Department plans to implement the national stroke strategy in rural areas; and how much funding has been provided to that end in 2009-10.

Ann Keen: Primary care trusts receive funding to commission services according to local needs and priorities. Extra funding has gone to national health service primary care trusts to implement, among other things, the stroke strategy and additional central funding over three years is available to help accelerate improvements in services, including those in rural areas. There are 28 stroke networks in England within the Stroke Improvement Programme, which are helping to develop innovative solutions to local problems, including issues of rurality.
	Commissioners and service providers locally will need to ensure they take into account the challenges posed by rural locationsfor example in ensuring that patients have access to time-critical services such as thrombolysis.

Swine Flu

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the reasons are for the time taken to make available the national pandemic influenza service; on what date he expects the service to be available; and what contingency arrangements have been made for circumstances in which swine influenza spreads at a rate more rapid than that assumed for the purposes of his Department's existing arrangements for the distribution of antiviral treatments.

Gillian Merron: With an innovative system such as the full national pandemic flu service it was essential that there was rigorous scrutiny to ensure that the system would both work and offer value for money to the United Kingdom taxpayer. This inevitably led to some delays in signing the contract with British Telecom. The contract for the development of the system was signed with BT in December 2008.
	The contingency arrangements, should the current outbreak spread at a more rapid rate, are that an interim national pandemic flu service has been put in place to supplement the assessment and authorisation processes. The interim service has been tested and consists of a phone service that the public can access through a single 0800 number, and a supporting website application. That will mean that people can have their symptoms assessed either over the phone or online. If it is established that they have developed swine flu, they will be issued with an authorisation number that they will then be able to use to access antivirals in a timely and appropriate way.
	The full national pandemic flu service will be ready in the autumn, having been fully tested.

Tuberculosis: Vaccination

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of immunisation against tuberculosis in England.

Gillian Merron: Immunisation against tuberculosis (TB) is provided by the Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccination. The BCG vaccine has been shown to be 70 to 80 per cent. effective against the most severe forms of the disease, such as TB meningitis in children. It is less effective in preventing respiratory disease, which is the more common form in adults. There are few data on the effectiveness of BCG vaccination when it is given to persons aged 16 or over.
	The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation reviewed BCG vaccination policy in 2007 and advised that its advice for a targeted at-risk vaccination programme remained appropriate.

SOLICITOR-GENERAL

Elderly and Vulnerable Witnesses

John Robertson: To ask the Solicitor-General what steps the Crown Prosecution Service takes to assist elderly and vulnerable people to give evidence as witnesses for the prosecution.

Vera Baird: The Crown Prosecution Service works closely with other criminal justice partners to provide individually tailored support for all witnesses. The Crown Prosecution Service published its policy on Prosecuting Crimes Against Older People in July 2008. Support for elderly and vulnerable witnesses can include specialist advocacy services and a range of special measures; for example the appointment of intermediaries, or the giving of evidence by live-link from the witness' own home.

Discontinued Prosecutions

Simon Hughes: To ask the Solicitor-General how many prosecutions have been discontinued on the advice of the Crown Prosecution Service on the first day set down for the trial in each of the last three years for which figures are available.

Vera Baird: The Crown Prosecution Service maintains records of attrition at various points in the criminal process in both the magistrates court and the Crown court. These records do not include a discrete count of the number of cases discontinued on the first day set down for trial. It is therefore not possible to accurately answer the hon. Member's question. However, it is clear that there have been significant improvements in the level of attrition over the period in question.

CABINET OFFICE

Departmental Public Consultation

Philip Hammond: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what consultations have been carried out by the Cabinet Office since July 2007; and at what cost.

Angela Smith: Details of consultations carried out by Cabinet Office during the 2007-08 financial year are available in the Cabinet Office's Annual Report and Accounts 2007-08 which is available in the Libraries of the House for the reference of Members.
	Details of consultations carried out during 2008-09 will be published in the forthcoming Annual Report and Accounts for 2008-09 which it is planned will be published prior to the summer recess 2009.
	Costs of the consultations would be available only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Recruitment

Gregory Barker: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office pursuant to the Answer of 6 May 2009,  Official Report, column 170W, on departmental recruitment, what progress has been made on consideration of whether a revised version of the European Fast Stream should be reintroduced for 2010.

Angela Smith: Discussions are continuing between interested Government Departments as to whether a revised version of the European Fast Stream should be reintroduced for 2010 and what form it would take.

Malnutrition

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many people died of each malnutrition condition, identified by its ICD-10 code, in each strategic health authority area in each year since 1997.

Angela Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated June 2009:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many people died of each malnutrition condition, identified by its ICD-10 code, in each strategic health authority area in each year since 1997-98. (279247)
	The attached tables provide the numbers of deaths where (a) malnutrition was the underlying cause of death (Table /), (b) malnutrition was mentioned anywhere on the death certificate (Table 2), and (c) effects of hunger was mentioned anywhere on the death certificate (Table 3), for persons resident in each strategic health authority in England, for the years 1997 to 2008 (the latest year available).
	'Effects of hunger', as the effects of malnutrition may be reported on a death certificate, is never recorded as the underlying cause of death, because it is defined by the International Classification of Diseases as a secondary cause only.
	Figures in Table 2 include those reported in Table 1. Tables 2 and 3 include deaths where malnutrition and effects of hunger respectively were a complication of a different underlying cause (for example cancer of the stomach).
	
		
			  Table 1: Deaths where malnutrition was the underlying cause of death( 1) , strategic health authorities in England( 2) , 1997 to  2 008( 3,4) 
			  Deaths (persons) 
			  Strategic health authority  1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007  2008 
			 North East 3 3 2 2 5 6 6 1 3 5 7 1 
			 North West 5 5 3 6 9 9 9 12 6 4 8 9 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 10 1 7 6 3 4 6 6 3 5 9 5 
			 East Midlands 6 14 8 8 4 5 8 2 1 7 8 4 
			 West Midlands 11 9 7 9 9 10 11 3 7 8 9 9 
			 East of England 5 4 7 2 7 4 3 5 11 8 7 10 
			 London 6 5 6 6 7 7 8 5 5 6 9 11 
			 South East Coast 2 5 4 5 3 4 1 1 4 4 6 3 
			 South Central 5 2 4 4 1 4 3 6 11 6 4 5 
			 Southwest 10 18 8 10 4 8 4 11 7 6 6 4 
			 (1 )Cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) codes 260-269 for the years 1997 to 2000, and the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes E40-E46 for 2001 onwards. The introduction of ICD-10 in 2001 means that the numbers of deaths from each cause before 2001 are not completely comparable with later years. (2) Based on boundaries as of 2009. (3) Figures are for deaths registered in each calendar year. (4) Figures for deaths registered in 2008 are provisional. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Deaths where malnutrition was mentioned on the death certificate( 1) , strategic health authorities in England( 2) , 1997 to 2008( 3,4) 
			  Deaths (persons) 
			  Strategic health authority  1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007  2008 
			 North East 23 17 20 23 22 25 24 14 19 28 19 20 
			 North West 35 37 31 30 28 33 33 38 39 32 43 43 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 33 26 31 26 21 22 31 19 15 25 29 34 
			 East Midlands 16 31 29 33 16 21 23 22 28 30 28 18 
			 West Midlands 62 40 55 46 35 50 40 44 24 37 45 47 
			 East of England 25 28 38 25 30 33 19 23 36 30 30 41 
			 London 36 38 42 31 23 22 27 16 16 25 29 36 
			 South East Coast 18 18 22 25 17 18 15 21 15 22 23 23 
			 South Central 21 16 20 16 8 21 17 19 26 36 25 25 
			 Southwest 51 54 36 46. 26 25 25 36 31 36 29 36 
			 (1) Cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) codes 260-269 for the years 1997 to 2000, and the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes E40-E46 for 2001 onwards. Deaths were included where any of these codes were mentioned anywhere on the death certificate. The introduction of ICD-10 in 2001 means that the numbers of deaths from each cause before 2001 are not completely comparable with later years. (2) Based on boundaries as of 2009. (3) Figures are for deaths registered in each calendar year. (4) Figures for deaths registered in 2008 are provisional. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 3: Deaths where effects of hunger was mentioned on the death certificate( 1) , strategic health authorities in England( 2) , 1997 to 2008( 3,4) 
			  Deaths (persons) 
			  Strategic health authority  1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007  2008 
			 North East 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 
			 Northwest 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 
			 East Midlands 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 
			 West Midlands 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 4 2 1 0 
			 East of England 1 0 0 1 2 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 
			 London 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 
			 South East Coast 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 
			 South Central 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 
			 South West 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 2 
			 (1) Cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) code E904.1 for the years 1997 to 2000, and the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) code T73.0 for 2001 onwards. Deaths were included where these codes were mentioned anywhere on the death certificate. The introduction of ICD-10 in 2001 means that the numbers of deaths from each cause before 2001 are not completely comparable with later years. (2) Based on boundaries as of 2009. (3) Figures are for deaths registered in each calendar year. (4) Figures for deaths registered in 2008 are provisional. 
		
	
	continued

Suicide: Easington

John Cummings: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many suicides there were in Easington constituency in  (a) 2005,  (b) 2006,  (c) 2007 and  (d) 2008.

Angela Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated June 2009
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many suicides took place in Easington constituency in (a) 2005, (b) 2006, (c) 2007 and (d) 2008. (279853)
	The table attached provides the number of deaths in Easington parliamentary constituency where suicide was the underlying cause of death, for the years 2005 to 2008.
	
		
			  Table 1: Number of deaths where suicide was the underlying cause of death, Easington parliamentary constituency, 2005 - 08( 1,2,3,4,5) 
			   Deaths 
			 2005 6 
			 2006 4 
			 2007 10 
			 2008 8 
			 (1) Suicide was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes X60-X84 and Y10-Y34, excluding Y33.9 (where the coroner's verdict was pending). (2) Suicide and undetermined intent deaths have not been included for children under the age of 15 years. (3) Based on boundaries as of 2009. (4) Figures are for deaths registered in each calendar year. (5) Figures for deaths registered in 2008 are provisional.

JUSTICE

30 Year Rule Review

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what his response is to the recommendation of the Review of the Thirty Year Rule that reducing the period should be phased through the release of two years' worth of material each year.

Jack Straw: The Prime Minister announced to the House on 10 June 2009,  Official Report, column 797, that the Government will reduce the 30 year rule to 20 years.
	The Ministry of Justice will respond to the detailed recommendations of the Dacre Review by the summer.

Administration of Justice: ICT

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether he plans to introduce an integrated IT system to link-up the probation, police, courts and prisons services.

Claire Ward: We have already put in place a technology infrastructure for these core criminal justice agencies and established a technology capability to help integrate the flow of information between these agencies through a secure, central exchange.

Administration of Justice: ICT

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what plans he has to improve internal communications systems within the criminal justice system.

Claire Ward: We have done much to improve communications within the criminal justice system. Each of the core criminal justice agencies now has a technology infrastructure and we have the put in place the capability for agencies to exchange information securely between each other and with those outside the system.
	Of course, we need to continue to improve information sharing, and we are, for example, this year putting in place the ability for the police to gain access to the outcome of court hearings automatically.

Bail: Crimes of Violence

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many and what proportion of offenders released on bail in 2007 were  (a) originally charged with and  (b) subsequently sentenced for (i) offences of violence against the person and (ii) sexual offences;
	(2)  how many and what proportion of  (a) defendants released on bail and  (b) defendants charged with violence against the person or sexual offences and then released on bail (i) failed to attend sentencing hearings and (ii) broke their bail conditions in other ways in 2007.

Jack Straw: The annual publication 'Criminal Statistics' contains estimates of the number of defendants in certain offence groups who were bailed by the courts. The estimated number of defendants who were granted bail at magistrates courts in England and Wales during 2007 in connection with 'Violence against the Person' and 'Sexual offences' was 43,200 and 4,800 respectively, corresponding to 9 and 1 per cent. of the total number of persons who were bailed at magistrates courts for all offences (Criminal Statistics, England and Wales, table 4.10). These figures include those also held in custody for some but not the whole period of the proceedings. The number of offenders subsequently sentenced for these offence types are not available.
	The estimated number of defendants who were granted bail at all magistrates courts and who subsequently failed to appear as directed to any hearing, not just a sentencing hearing, in England and Wales during 2007 was 3,400 for 'Violence against the person' (8 per cent. of the number of persons bailed for this offence type). For 'Sexual offences' the figure was 300 (6 per cent. of the number of persons bailed for this offence type). For all offences, the figure was 51,500 (11 per cent. of persons bailed) (Criminal Statistics, England and Wales, table 4.10). These figures include those also held in custody for some but not the whole period of the proceedings. These remands data are not comparable with other court proceedings data.
	The Ministry of Justice holds no data on how many defendants breached their bail conditions. Breach of bail conditions is not an offence and therefore carries no penalty. Any person who breaches a bail condition is liable to immediate arrest and it is the responsibility of the court to re-consider bail as a whole and decide whether to grant bail again on the same or different conditions or to remand into custody.

Bail: Crimes of Violence

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many defendants were charged with offences of violence against the person or sexual offences in 2007; how many and what proportion of those so charged were  (a) granted and  (b) refused bail; and what condition of schedule 1 of the Bail Act 1976 was cited as the reason not to grant bail in each case;
	(2)  how many offenders were  (a) prosecuted for and  (b) convicted of (i) offences of violence against the person and (ii) sexual offences in 2007.

Jack Straw: The number of defendants who were proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts for 'violence against the person' and 'sexual offences', England and Wales, for the year 2007 (latest available) can be viewed in the table.
	Charging data are not held by the Ministry of Justice, so proceeded against data have been provided in lieu.
	These data are on the principal offence basis. The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offence for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences, the offence selected is the one for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.
	Court proceedings data for 2008 will be available in the autumn of 2009.
	The annual publication Criminal Statistics contains estimates of the number of defendants in certain offence groups who were bailed by the courts. The estimated number of defendants who were granted bail at all magistrates courts in England and Wales during 2007 in connection with offences in the Violence against the person and Sexual offences groups was 43,200 and 4,800 respectively (Criminal Statistics, England and Wales, table 4.10). These figures include those also held in custody for some but not the whole period of the proceedings. Data for 2008 will be available later this year.
	These data are not comparable with the court proceedings data presented elsewhere in this answer, therefore they cannot be used to compute the proportions of defendants granted or refused bail.
	The court may withhold bail if it is satisfied that there are substantial grounds for believing that, if released on bail, the defendant would abscond, commit an offence, interfere with witnesses or otherwise obstruct the course of justice. In making its decision the court must consider all the circumstances of the case as appear to be relevant. This will include the nature and seriousness of the alleged offence and the weight of the evidence against the defendant, the defendant's character, antecedents, associations, community ties and past record of complying with bail, as well as any other factors which appear relevant to the court. Data on bail collected centrally by my Department do not include information on the reasons given for refusing bail. This information would have to be retrieved by inspecting individual court records which could be achieved only at disproportionate cost.
	
		
			  N umber of defendants who were proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts for sexual and violence against the person offences In England and Wales, 2007( 1,)( )( 2,)( )( 3) 
			   Proceeded against  Found guilty 
			   Sexual offences( 4,)( )( 5)  Violence against the  p erson( 6)  Sexual  o ffences( 4,)( )( 5)  Violence against the person( 6) 
			 2007 8,634 61,056 5,075 41,951 
			 (1) The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (2) Sexual and violence against the person offences include 'indictable only' and 'triable-either way offences'. 'Indictable only' are the most serious breaches of the criminal law and must be dealt with at the Crown Court. Triable-either-way offences may be tried at either the Crown Court or at magistrates courts. The offence groups do not include summary offences.  3 Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts, and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. 4 The sexual offences category includes offences under the Sexual Offences Act 2003, which came into force on 1 May 2004. The Sexual Offences Act 2003 represented a major overhaul of the law and so comparisons with old offending regimes can be misleading. (5) The sexual offences category includes the following offences: Buggery Sexual assault on a male Indecency between males Rape of a female Rape of a male Sexual assault on a female Sexual activity with child under 13 Sexual activity with child under 16 Familial sexual offences (incest) Exploitation of prostitution Abduction Bigamy Soliciting of women by men Sexual activity etc. with a person with a mental disorder Abuse of children through prostitution and pornography Trafficking for sexual exploitation Abuse of trustsexual offences Gross indecency with children Miscellaneous sexual offences (6) The Violence against the person category includes the following offence classes: Murder Attempted murder Threat or conspiracy to murder Manslaughter Infanticide Child destruction Causing death by dangerous driving Manslaughter due to diminished responsibility Causing death by careless driving when under the influence of drink or drugs Causing death of a child or vulnerable person Wounding or other act endangering life Endangering railway passenger Endangering life at sea Malicious wounding etc. Cruelty to or neglect of children Abandoning child aged under two years Child abduction Procuring illegal abortion Concealment of birth Causing death by aggravated vehicle taking  Source: OCJRE and A: Office for criminal justice reformevidence and analysis unit, Ministry of Justice

Crimes of Violence: Essex

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people in  (a) Essex and  (b) Castle Point convicted of serious violent offences and who served sentences of under two years duration re-offended in each of the last five years.

Maria Eagle: The requested information is not available. The data sets compiled by the Ministry of Justice to analyse reoffending by adults and juveniles do not enable reoffending rates to be calculated at this level of detail. Although data have recently been published on reoffending at a local level these data cannot be broken down by sentence length or offence type and so cannot be used to answer this question.
	The available data on local reoffending can be found at
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/docs/local-adult-reoffending-2008-ii.pdf

Crimes of Violence: Sentencing

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the average length was of sentences  (a) handed down to and  (b) served by those who were convicted of (i) violence against the person, (ii) sexual offences and (iii) robbery in 2007.

Jack Straw: The following table shows the average length of a determinate immediate custodial sentence for 2007.
	
		
			  Average length of immediate custodial sentence( 1)  in months for 2007 
			   Average length 
			 Violence against the person 16.9 
			 Sexual offences 42.9 
			 Robbery 31.3 
			 (1) Excludes life and indeterminate sentences.  Notes: 1. These figures have been drawn from administrative data systems. 2. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system.  Source: OMS Analytical Services, Ministry of Justice 
		
	
	These figures can all be found in table 2.12 of Sentencing Statistics 2007 available at the following link:
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/sentencingannual.htm
	It is not possible to provide data on time served for those prisoners convicted in 2007 because some will still be serving their sentences. If the offence was committed on or after 4 April 2005, release arrangements are covered by the Criminal Justice Act (CJA) 2003, where either a standard determinate sentence, Extended Sentence for Public Protection or Imprisonment for Public Protection would apply. The Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 amended certain sentences from the CJA 2003. Life sentence prisoners are released under the terms of the Crime (Sentences) Act 1997.
	Average time served in prison for 2007 could be found in table 9.1 of Offender Management Caseload Statistics 2007 available at the following link:
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/prisonand probation.htm
	These data are based on the principal offence. Where an offender has been sentenced for more than one offence it is the one for which the heaviest sentence was imposed, where the same sentence has been imposed for more than one offence the principal offence is the one for which the statutory maximum is most severe.

Crimes of Violence: Sentencing

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many and what proportion of offenders sentenced for offences of violence against the person or sexual offences received  (a) a custodial sentence and  (b) a non-custodial sentence or other disposal in each of the last two years.

Jack Straw: The requested information is shown as follows:
	
		
			  Number and percentage of offenders sentenced for violence against the person or sexual offences receiving custodial and non-custodial sentences, 2006-07 
			   Violence against the person  Sexual offences 
			   2006  2007  2006  2007 
			   Offenders  Percentage of offenders  Offenders  Percentage of offenders  Offenders  Percentage of offenders  Offenders  Percentage of offenders 
			  Custodial sentences 
			 Immediate custody 12,354 29.5 12,535 29.8 2,808 56.9 2,810 55.6 
			 Suspended sentence 5,569 13.3 7,167 17.0 296 6.0 439 8.7 
			  
			 Non-custodial sentences 23,982 57.2 22,377 53.2 1,828 37.1 1,805 35.7 
			  
			 Total number sentenced 41,905 100 42,079 100 4,932 100 5,054 100 
			  Note : These figures have been drawn from administrative data systems. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system  Source: OMS Analytical Services, Ministry of Justice 
		
	
	These figures are also available in the answer I gave the hon. and learned Member on 9 June 2009,  Official Report, column 792W, and from table 1.2 of Sentencing Statistics 2007 found at the following at the following link:
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/sentencingannual.htm
	These data are based on the principal offence. Where an offender has been sentenced for more than one offence it is the one for which the heaviest sentence was imposed, where the same sentence has been imposed for more than offence the principal offence is the one for which the statutory maximum is most severe.

Departmental Press

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what  (a) newspapers and  (b) periodicals are delivered to the private office of each Minister in his Department; and at what cost in the latest period for which figures are available.

Jack Straw: Details of newspapers and periodicals delivered to the private office of each of the Ministers in the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) in April 2009 (the latest month for which figures are available) are contained in the following table. The total cost for the provision of these publications for April 2009 was 1,642.
	In May 2009 MoJ private offices, undertook a review of these costs and have made significant cuts in the number of daily newspapers ordered. It is estimated that this will result in a saving of approximately 500 per month.
	 Newspape rs and p eriodicals ordered by MoJ ministerial offices for April 2009
	 Jack Straw's office
	 Newspapers
	 Financial Times
	 Times
	 Telegraph
	 Guardian
	 Independent
	 Daily Express
	 Daily Mail
	 Daily Mirror
	 The Sun
	 Daily Star
	 Evening Standard
	 Western Mail
	 Record
	 Periodicals
	 Economist
	 New Statesman
	 Spectator
	 Tribune
	 Prospect
	 Private Eye
	 David Hanson's office
	 Newspapers
	 Times
	 Guardian
	 Telegraph
	 Independent
	 Daily Mail
	 Daily Express
	 The Sun
	 Daily Mirror
	 The Morning Star
	 Evening Standard
	 Periodicals
	 Tribune
	 Private Eye
	 Spectator
	 Bridget Prentice's office
	 Newspapers
	 Times
	 Financial Times
	 Guardian
	 Telegraph
	 Independent
	 Daily Mail
	 Daily Express
	 The Sun
	 Daily Mirror
	 Periodicals
	 The Lawyer
	 Private Eye
	 Maria Eagle's office
	 Newspapers
	 Financial Times
	 Times
	 Guardian
	 Independent
	 The Mail
	 The Sun
	 Daily Mirror
	 Evening Standard
	 Periodicals
	 New Statesman
	 The Week
	 The Lawyer
	 The Spectator
	 Lord Bach's office
	 Newspapers
	 Times
	 The Guardian
	 Daily Telegraph
	 Independent
	 Daily Mail
	 The Sun
	 Daily Mirror
	 Evening Standard
	 Periodicals
	 Economist
	 Private Eye
	 Solicitors Journal
	 Shahid Malik's office
	 Newspapers
	 Times
	 Guardian
	 Mail
	 Periodicals
	 New Statesman
	 The Week
	 The Lawyer
	 The Spectator
	 Michael Will's office
	 Newspapers
	 Times
	 Guardian
	 Telegraph
	 Independent
	 Mail
	 Evening Standard
	 Periodicals
	Nil.
	Total cost for April 2009: 1,642.

Departmental Training

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what training courses have been attended by special advisers in his Department in the last 12 months; and at what cost.

Jack Straw: None.

Domestic Violence

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Harborough of 6 October 2008,  Official Report, columns 172-3W, on domestic violence, what the average period of time before offenders convicted of offences of domestic violence or abuse commenced integrated domestic abuse programmes was in each probation area in England and Wales in 2008-09.

Jack Straw: The following table shows the average number of weeks that elapse from the date of sentence for offences of violence or abuse to the commencement of domestic violence programme requirements in probation areas for 2008-09.
	These figures have been drawn from administrative data systems. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system.
	
		
			  Average number of weeks that elapse from the date of sentence to the commencement of domestic abuse programme requirement in probation areas 2008-09 
			  Probation area  Weeks 
			 Avon and Somerset 22.9 
			 Bedfordshire 16.4 
			 Cambridgeshire 21.5 
			 County Durham 19.0 
			 Cumbria 25.0 
			 Derbyshire 22.0 
			 Devon and Cornwall 14.7 
			 Dorset 17.6 
			 Dyfed-Powys 19.4 
			 Essex 25.4 
			 Gloucestershire 14.1 
			 Gwent 22.3 
			 Hampshire 15.6 
			 Hertfordshire 11.6 
			 Humberside 17.5 
			 Kent 16.6 
			 Lancashire 15.7 
			 Leicestershire and Rutland 19.8 
			 Lincolnshire 16.3 
			 London 8.4 
			 Merseyside 15.3 
			 Norfolk 18.0 
			 North Wales 11.2 
			 Northamptonshire 20.8 
			 Northumbria 15.4 
			 North Yorkshire 6.4 
			 Nottinghamshire 12.6 
			 South Wales 2.1 
			 South Yorkshire 11.3 
			 Staffordshire 15.6 
			 Suffolk 13.5 
			 Surrey 20.6 
			 Sussex 21.0 
			 Teesside 28.4 
			 Thames Valley 2.3 
			 Warwickshire 1.6 
			 West Mercia 20.4 
			 West Midlands 13.4 
			 West Yorkshire 21.1 
			 Wiltshire 20.7 
			  Note: Data are not available for Cheshire or Greater Manchester probation areas. Figures presented do not account for pre programme work undertaken with Offender Manager.

Freedom of Information

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when he plans to publish his response to the consultation on extending the scope of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Jack Straw: In my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister's statement on Constitutional Renewal on 10 June 2009,  Official Report, columns 797-99, he emphasised the Government's plans to look at broadening the application of the Freedom of Information Act.
	The Government are considering carefully the responses to the public consultation on extending the Act through a Section 5 order. This could include within the scope of the Act bodies performing functions of a public nature and contractors providing services that are functions of public authorities. The Government will publish their response to the consultation shortly.

Hillsborough Stadium: Disclosure of Information

Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what progress his Department has made in identifying files and documents it holds relating to the Hillsborough disaster that can be released.

Michael Wills: A number of files have been identified containing information relevant to the Hillsborough disaster. A review of the information is under way.

Intellectual Property: Crime

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many  (a) prosecutions and  (b) convictions for intellectual property crime there were under the (a) Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 and (b) Trademarks Act 1994 in 2007.

Jack Straw: Information showing the number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all court for offences under the 1988 Copyright, Designs and Patents Act and the 1994 Trademarks Act, in England and Wales in 2007 is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts for offences under the 1988 Copyright, Designs and Patents Act( 1)  and the 1994 Trademarks Act( 2) , England and Wales, 2007( 3,4) 
			  Act  Proceeded against  Found guilty 
			 Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 514 365 
			 Trademarks Act 1994 1,071 888 
			 (1) Includes the following: (a) Makes, imports or distributes illicit recordings. Makes for sale or hire, imports possesses or distributes articles which infringes copyright. (Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, Sec. 198 1a, b, d.iii.  Sec. 107 1a, b, d.iv and E). (b) Triable either way offences except sections included in (1)(a). (c) Person infringes copyright in a work by communicating the work to the public. (Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 S.107 2A and 4A as added by Copyright and Related Rights Regulations Reg 26 (1)) (d) Person who infringes a performer's making available right in the course of business/otherwise (Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 S.198 2A and 5A as added by Copyright and Related Rights Regulations Reg 26 (3)) (e) Summary offences. (2) Includes the following: (a) Unauthorised use of Trade Mark etc in relations to goods. Falsification of register etc. (Trade Marks Act, 1994 Sec 92  94). (b) Unauthorised use of royal arms etc. Unregistered persons describing themselves as registered Trade Mark Agents. Contravention of the rules prescribing the conditions for person entitled to be registered Trade Mark Agents. Falsely representing trade mark as registered. (Trade Marks Act, 1994, Sees 84, 85, 95). (3) The statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences the principal offence is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (4) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.  Source:  Evidence and analysis unitOffice for Criminal Justice Reform

Land Registry: Complaints

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many complaints about the way in which a decision relating to land registration had been reached were  (a) received and  (b) completed by the Office of the Independent Complaints Reviewer in each of the last three years.

Jack Straw: The figures are set out in the following table. They show the number of complaints received and not investigated (there are two main reasons why a complaint may not be investigated; if the complaint has not gone through the Land Registry complaints procedure first; or the complaint is not lodged within six months of the final outcome with Land Registry), the number of complaints investigated, and the total number of separate allegations considered within the 'complaints investigated' figure. The 2008-09 report has not been finalised.
	
		
			   Complaints received not investigated  Complaints investigated  Number of allegations investigated 
			 2005-06 n/a 16 75 
			 2006-07 38 24 121 
			 2007-08 30 22 98 
			 n/a = Not available.

Members: Correspondence

Michael Spicer: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Courts plans to reply to the email from the hon. Member for West Worcestershire of 28 April 2009 on the Probation Service.

Maria Eagle: I replied to the hon. Member on 17 June. I apologise for the delay.

National Offender Management Service

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the budget of each director of offender management in England and Wales is for 2009-10.

Maria Eagle: The operating budget for each Director of Offender Management region in England and Wales is:
	
		
			
			 East Midlands 312,564,672 
			 East 263,521,449 
			 London 317,304,202 
			 North East 161,503,899 
			 North West 427,874,764 
			 South East 453,671,901 
			 South West 215,477,689 
			 Wales 101,191,129 
			 West Midlands 284,794,603 
			 Yorkshire 287,324,035

Prison Service: Manpower

Edward Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the ratio of prisoners to prison officers at each category C prison in England and Wales was on 1 April in each of the last 10 years.

Maria Eagle: Information on the prisoner to officer ratio at each category C prison since 2000 is contained in the following table. Information is provided only for establishments which were category C in each particular year. Establishments are allocated to a category based on the predominant accommodation. Establishments that also hold young offenders would be expected to have lower prisoner to officer ratios.
	
		
			  Prison  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007  2008  2009 
			 Acklington 3.2 3.4 3.7 3.6 3.8 3.9 3.8 3.7 3.4 3.7 
			 Ashwell 4.2 3.5 4.8 4.9 4.8 5.1 5.0 5.2 4.9 4.9 
			 Blantyre House 3.2 3.2 
			 Blundeston3.0 3.1 3.1 3.0 3.1 3.0 3.0 
			 Brockhill2.2 2.2  
			 Buckley Hall  3.4 1.13.4 3.5 3.5 3.5 
			 Bullwood Hall2.1 2.5 2.8 
			 Camp Hill 3.0 3.4 3.6 3.5 3.8 3.6 3.7 3.7 3.6 3.7 
			 Canterbury 2.8 2.9 2.7 2.7 2.5 2.7 
			 Channings Wood 3.7 3.8 3.9 3.7 3.8 3.8 3.9 3.9 4.0 3.9 
			 Coldingley 3.1 3.8 4.2 4.1 4.1 4.3 4.2 4.1 4.1 3.7 
			 Dartmoor   2.9 3.2 3.6 3.8 3.7 3.7 3.6 3.7 
			 Downview 2.7 2.7 
			 Edmunds Hill  1.3 2.8 2.8 2.9 3.0 
			 Erlestoke 3.0 3.1 3.6 3.9 3.6 3.7 3.7 3.5 3.7 3.7 
			 Everthorpe 3.4 3.5 3.2 3.2 3.7 3.5 4.0 3.7 3.8 4.0 
			 Featherstone 3.8 4.0 4.3 4.4 4.3 4.2 4.1 4.4 4.3 4.4 
			 Guys Marsh(1)  4.0 3.8 4.1 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.1 4.2 
			 Haslar  2.6 
			 Haverigg 2.8 3.8 4.3 4.2 4.4 4.0 4.2 4.2 4.4 4.2 
			 Highpoint 3.2 3.4 5.9 4.0 4.4 4.3 4.1 4.2 4.1 4.3 
			 Kennet 2.3 2.4 
			 Kirklevington Grange 4.7 4.6 
			 Lancaster 2.0 2.1 2.7 3.0 2.8 2.8 2.7 2.6 2.6 2.8 
			 Lindholme 3.2 3.0 4.0 3.6 3.4 3.6 3.8 4.2 4.5 4.6 
			 Littlehey 3.8 4.0 4.2 4.6 4.5 4.4 4.3 4.4 4.4 4.4 
			 Maidstone 3.7 3.6 3.8 3.6 3.2 2.4 
			 Moorland(1) 2.9 2.9 2.8 2.9 2.3 2.3 2.4 2.4 2.3 2.3 
			 Onley(1)  2.6 3.1 3.3 3.4 3.1 
			 Ranby 3.6 3.6 3.4 3.4 3.1 3.5 3.6 4.1 3.8 3.9 
			 Risley 2.6 2.8 3.0 3.7 3.7 3.8 3.6 3.8 3.7 3.8 
			 Shepton Mallet 2.7 1.7 3.0 2.8 3.0 2.8 2.9 3.1 2.8 2.9 
			 Stafford 3.2 3.3 3.5 3.9 3.7 4.1 4.2 4.1 3.8 4.0 
			 Stocken 4.1 4.1 4.2 3.9 4.1 4.0 4.2 4.1 4.1 4.2 
			 The Mount 4.2 4.6 5.3 5.2 5.1 4.8 4.6 4.7 4.3 4.4 
			 The Verne 4.4 4.5 4.7 5.2 5.4 5.2 5.0 5.1 5.0 5.1 
			 Usk/Prescoed 3.3 3.7 3.9 4.4 4.6 4.4 4.3 4.3 4.4 4.5 
			 Wayland 4.0 4.3 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.6 4.6 4.7 3.5 4.0 
			 Wealstun 4.1 4.1 4.4 3.7 3.0 3.7 3.9 4.0 2.7 2.7 
			 Weare 2.8 3.0 3.3 3.4 3.3 3.5 
			 Wellingborough 2.7 3.2 3.3 3.8 3.7 3.1 3.3 3.7 3.6 3.6 
			 Whatton 3.5 3.9 3.8 3.7 3.9 3.5 2.6 3.7 3.8 3.9 
			 Wolds 3.5 3.4 3.2 3.7 3.3 3.9 
			 Wymott 3.7 3.7 4.0 4.0 3.5 4.1 4.1 4.1 3.7 4.0 
			 (1) Establishment also holds, or until recently held, young offenders as well as category C prisoners. Moorland also has an Open section.

Prisoners: Compensation

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much the Prison Service paid in compensation to prisoners in respect of damaged or lost property in 2008-09.

Jack Straw: 25,361 was paid out in settlement of prisoner civil litigation claims for damaged or lost property in 2008-09. Figures for settlements of claims resolved through the internal complaints system or through the Prison and Probation Ombudsman are not recorded centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Prisoners: Elderly

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many  (a) male and  (b) female prisoners in England and Wales are over (i) 70 and (ii) 75 years old.

Jack Straw: The number of male and female prisoners aged 70 and up to 74, and over 75 years old at the end of April 2009 is as follows:
	
		
			   Male  Female 
			 70 and up to 74 331 (1) 
			 75 and over 188 (1) 
			 Total 519 6 
			 (1) Fewer than 5 
		
	
	These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

Prisons

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 9 June 2009,  Official Report, column 797W, on prisons, how long on average elapsed between prisoners' cells being unlocked in the morning and prisoners being returned to their cells in the evening in each month between January 1997 and March 2007.

Jack Straw: The figures requested are set out in the following table.
	
		
			   Monthly average time unlocked (hours per prisoner per day) 
			   1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007 
			 January 11.11 10.64 10.46 10.16 9.12 9.32 9.78 9.91 9.91 10.09 10.08 
			 February 11.12 10.59 10.60 10.13 9.58 9.48 9.84 9.86 9.91 10.12 10.06 
			 March 11.15 10.93 10.46 9.82 8.95 9.32 9.90 9.89 9.97 10.04 10.11 
			 April 11.00 10.75 10.39 8.81 9.66 9.66 9.94 9.87 10.03 10.08  
			 May 11.06 10.70 10.39 9.54 9.77 9.75 9.97 10.04 9.99 10.03  
			 June 10.93 10.65 10.26 9.59 9.67 9.89 9.92 10.07 10.05 10.20  
			 July 10.89 10.70 10.27 9.80 9.83 9.80 9.96 10.03 10.02 10.08  
			 August 10.96 10.60 10.16 9.76 9.69 9.78 9.96 9.90 9.99 10.07  
			 September 10.86 10.60 10.22 9.99 9.72 9.83 9.96 9.86 9.99 10.11  
			 October 10.95 10.56 10.13 9.97 9.67 9.73 9.91 9.91 10.06 10.11  
			 November 10.86 10.53 10.12 9.88 9.50 9.60 9.87 10.04 10.13 10.13  
			 December 10.69 10.50 10.10 9.78 9.41 9.54 9.88 9.94 9.92 9.99

Probation

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many directors of offender management there have been in each month since their inception of the post.

Jack Straw: The first six directors of Offender Management took up their posts on 30 March 2009. An interim director also took up post on this date. The remaining three directors of Offender Management took up their posts during April. All 10 directors have been in post since 27 April 2009.
	To assist in the design and development of the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) agency, Wales and the London region piloted an integrated management structure during the 2008-09 financial year. The two managers who led these pilots were called directors of Offender Management and held these posts from 1 April 2008 to 27 March 2009.

Probation

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many probation offices there were in each year since 1997;
	(2)  how many probation offices are open.

Jack Straw: Information on the number of probation offices there were in each year since 1997 is not held or recorded centrally. The information requested could be obtained only at disproportionate cost as it would require approaching 42 probation trusts and areas across England and Wales.
	Current central estates records show there are 1,049 occupied probation properties, of which 95 are Approved Premises.

Probation

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the caseload was of the Probation Service in  (a) London and  (b) England and Wales on the latest date for which information is available.

Maria Eagle: The total case load of offenders supervised by the probation service in London and England and Wales as at 31 December 2008 was as follows:
	
		
			  All probation service supervision at 31 December 2008 
			
			 London 43,811 
			 England and Wales 243,434 
		
	
	These figures are provisional and were published on 30 April 2009 in the Ministry of Justice statistics bulletin probation statistics quarterly brief October to December 2008, England and Wales. Copies can be found in the
	Libraries of the House and may be accessed via the Ministry of Justice website:
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/probation quarterly.htm
	These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

Probation Service for England and Wales: Finance

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what budgetary reductions there will be for the Probation Service in England and Wales in  (a) 2009-10 and  (b) 2010-11.

Maria Eagle: A budget reduction of 20 million has been applied to the national probation service in 2009-10. No final decisions have been taken regarding the budget allocation for 2010-11.
	We have set challenging efficiency targets for probation areas who want to become trusts, but in doing so we have always been clear that the priority is public protection and this will not be compromised.
	In 2009-10, probation is required to make savings of 20 million out of a budget of 914 million, which was 2.2 per cent. In 2008-09, provisional figures show that probation areas underspent by 17 million, which demonstrates that the savings are completely realistic.

Public Opinion: Ministry of Justice

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment he made of the level of public confidence in the criminal justice system in 2008.

Jack Straw: Public confidence in the criminal justice system (CJS) is measured using the British crime survey (BCS). In the year to March 2008 44 per cent. of people were confident that the CJS is effective in bringing people who commit crimes to justice. This rose from 39 per cent. in 2003, and met the Government's target for the period 20032008.
	The BCS now includes measures of public confidence in both the fairness and the effectiveness of the CJS as a whole. During the period from October 2007 to March 2008, 56 per cent. of people were confident that the CJS as a whole is fair and 37 per cent. were confident that it is effective. From April to December 2008 the level of confidence in fairness increased to 58 per cent., while confidence in effectiveness has so far remained stable.

Reoffenders

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many serious further offence reviews were carried out in  (a) England and Wales and  (b) London in 2008-09.

Maria Eagle: The figures for serious further offence reviews for 2008-09 will be published in the Offender Management Caseload Statistics on 31 July 2009. As the published statistics do not contain a breakdown by individual probation area, I will provide the hon. Gentleman with the figures for London, once the national figures have been published.
	The most recent statistics available show that, between 1 April 2007 and 31 March 2008, there were 1,252 reviews carried out by probation areas in England and Wales, in cases which were initially notified to the National Offender Management Service. The corresponding figure for London was 165.

Reparation by Offenders: Clothing

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what proportion of offenders used high-visibility clothing whilst undertaking community payback work in the last period for which figures are available.

Jack Straw: The use of distinctive high visibility clothing by offenders sentenced to Community Payback is monitored centrally by the number of hours worked. The number of offenders using high visibility clothing is not recorded. The last period for which figures are available is March, when 76.25 per cent. of the hours worked by offenders on Community Payback projects potentially in view of the public, were undertaken using distinctive clothing.
	Exemptions to the use of distinctive clothing may be granted where convincing evidence is provided on the basis of health and safety concerns, or business risk to the organisation benefiting from the work. Probation areas have successfully engaged with beneficiary organisations to increase the proportion of hours worked using distinctive high visibility clothing. The hours worked using distinctive clothing increased from 210,974 hours in December 2008 to 401,680 in March 2009. Distinctive clothing is not worn on work projects taking place on enclosed premises, such as workshops, where the work done by offenders is not potentially in view of the public.

CHILDREN, SCHOOLS AND FAMILIES

GCSE: Essex

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what proportion of children resident in  (a) Essex and  (b) Castle Point achieved five or more A* to C grades at GCSE in (i) 1997 and (ii) the latest year for which information is available.

Vernon Coaker: Consistent information about pupil achievement based on residency is only available for years 2002/03 onwards. The requested information for 2002/03 and 2007/08 is provided in the following table.
	
		
			  Percentage of pupils( 1)  resident in Essex local authority and Castle Point constituency achieving five or more A*-C grades at GCSE and equivalents, 2002/03( 2 ) and 2007/08( 3) 
			  Percentage 
			   Essex  Castle Point 
			 2002/03 56.2 55.5 
			 2007/08 64.5 61.0 
			 (1) Pupils attending maintained schools only. (2) Based on pupils aged 15 with a valid postcode at the start of the academic year and includes GCSEs and GNVQs. (3) Based on pupils at the end of key stage 4 with a valid postcode in that academic year and includes GCSEs and equivalents.  Source: National Pupil Database (final data)

Schools: Crimes of Violence

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what recent guidance his Department has issued to schools on  (a) protecting staff from violent behaviour by pupils and  (b) dealing with such behaviour.

Vernon Coaker: Violence against school staff is completely unacceptable and our guidance on exclusions, revised in September 2008, makes it clear that a pupil can be permanently excluded for violence even when it is a first offence.
	In May 2008 we issued revised guidance on the education of children and young people experiencing behavioural, emotional and social difficulties as a special educational need (BESD). We have also commissioned the National Strategies to provide a wide range of support and advisory services, including a continuing professional development scheme, which includes study materials on managing behaviour in schools and addressing BESD.
	In addition to guidance, we are implementing a comprehensive national programme to strengthen schools' capacity to manage behaviour. This includes targeted support for schools, high quality training, curriculum materials and consultancy support. We have also strengthened the law to help protect schools from challenges to their authority from pupils or parents, and enable them to foster a safe and orderly learning environment.
	We are encouraging schools to develop a whole-school approach to improving social and emotional wellbeing and continuing to reduce behavioural difficulties, by promoting the Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning (SEAL) programme and by publishing guidance on the management of behaviour.

Social Work Taskforce

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families if he will publish all of his correspondence with the Social Work Taskforce.

Dawn Primarolo: The Social Work Task Force was created in December 2008 to look at front line social work practice and to recommend how, in the light of their conclusions, improvements could be made as part of a long term programme of reform for social work. The Secretaries of State for Health and for Children, Young People and Families, wrote to Moira Gibb, chair of the Social Work Task Force on 5 December 2008 to lay out this remit. This letter was copied to the other members of the task force with their invitations to join, and placed in the House Libraries.
	The Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families wrote to Moira Gibb again, in her position as chair of the Social Work Task Force, regarding Lord Laming's recommendations in his Progress Report on the Protection of Children in England on 12 March 2009. This letter was also placed in the House Libraries.
	Moira Gibb wrote to the Secretaries of State for Children, Schools and Families, and for Health on 5 May 2009 with the Social Work Task Force's first report, which outlined its initial findings. The Task Force is expected to submit a further report in July, in advance of their full recommendations in October 2009.

WOMEN AND EQUALITY

Demos

Tom Watson: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality what  (a) private meetings and  (b) public engagements Ministers in the Government Equalities Office have attended at which representatives from the think-tank Demos were present in the last 12 months; and if she will make a statement.

Michael Jabez Foster: The Ministers for Women have not attended any private meetings with Demos during the last 12 months are not aware of any public engagements attended at which Demos representatives were present during the same period.

Departmental Lost Property

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality how many laptop computers belonging to the Government Equalities Office have been lost or stolen since its creation.

Michael Jabez Foster: The Government Equalities Office (GEO) was established on 12 October 2007. Since then there have been three reported incidents of stolen laptop computers. They have occurred in the following years:
	
		
			  Calendar year  Number of laptop computers reported as lost or stolen 
			 2007 0 
			 2008 2 
			 2009 1 
		
	
	GEO laptops are encrypted and can only be used with security keys and passwords.

Equality and Human Rights Commission: Manpower

Bob Neill: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality pursuant to the answer to Baroness Warsi of 5 May 2009, Official Report, House of Lords, column 98WA, on the Equality and Human Rights Commission, what the  (a) job title and  (b) salary range is of each of the 83 full-time equivalent posts that are vacant.

Michael Jabez Foster: The following table summarises the 83 full-time equivalent vacancies as at 31 March 2009.
	
		
			  Directorate  Position  Vacancies FTE  Level  Salary range  Comments 
			 Wales Head of Legal 1 5 (1)43,680 to 53,093  
			 Wales Head of Research 1 5 (1)  
			 Communications Head of London and South Ops 1 5 (1)  
			 Corporate Management Head of Corporate Change Management 1 5 (1)  
			 Corporate Management Head of Commercial Management 1 5 (1)  
			 Strategy Head of Programme Management 1 5 (1)  
			 Strategy Head of Performance and Stakeholder Engagement 1 5 (1)  
			 Strategy Policy Manager 7 4 (2)34,224.75 to 41,600  
			 Wales Policy Manager 2 4 (2)  
			 Strategy Executive Assistant 1 4 (2)  
			 Communications Business Manager 1 4 (2)  
			 Strategy Programme Manager 5 4 (2)  
			 Wales Policy Manager 1 4 (2)  
			 Legal Legal Policy Team Leader 1 3 (3)26,815.80 to 32,595  
			 Scotland Lawyer 1 3 (3)  
			 Scotland Policy Officer 1 3 (3)  
			 Strategy Research Officer 3 3 (3)  
			 Corporate Management Grants Officers 2 3 (3)  
			 Corporate Management Admin Support 1 3 (3)  
			 Corporate Management Contract Managers 1 3 (3)  
			 Corporate Management Contract Managers 1 3 (3)  
			 Communications Executive Assistant 1 3 (3)  
			 Communications Regional Programme Adviser 7 3 (3)  
			 Corporate Management Para-Legal 1 3 (3)  
			 Corporate Management Executive Assistant 1 3 (3)  
			 Strategy Programme Officer 3 3 (3)  
			 Wales Policy Officer 1 3 (3)  
			 Communications Helpline Managers 3 3 (3) These roles where in anticipation of the TUPE Sitel transfer which was completed 1 April 2009 
			 Corporate Management Grants Officers 1 2 (4)20,056.30 to 24,378  
			 Corporate Management Receptionist 1 2 (4)  
			 Strategy Admin Co-ordinator 1 2 (4)  
			 Strategy Services Support Co-ordinator 2 2 (4)  
			 Communications Helpline Co-ordinators 23 2 (4) These roles where in anticipation of the TUPE Sitel transfer which was completed 1 April 2009 
			 Commissioners Secretary to Chair and CEO Private Office Team 1 1 (5)15,000 to 18,233  
			 Communications Helpline Administrator 1 1 (5)  
			 Strategy Admin Support 1 1 (5)  
			 Total  83
			 (1)( )Salary applies to all level 5 (2)( )Salary applies to all level 4 (3)( )Salary applies to all level 3 (4)( )Salary applies to all level 2 (5)( )Salary applies to all level 1

Government Equalities Office: Drinking Water

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality how much the Government Equalities Office has spent on bottled water in each of the last two years.

Michael Jabez Foster: Since its creation on 12 October 2007, the Government Equalities Office has not spent any money on bottled water in the conduct of its day-to-day business at its headquarters in Eland House, London. Bottled water has been provided at GEO-hosted conferences and seminars but the costs of this are not separately identified by the event suppliers.

Government Equalities Office: Homophobia

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality what recent steps the Government Equalities Office has taken to combat homophobia in the work place.

Michael Jabez Foster: The Government are committed to combating workplace homophobia. The Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003 made discrimination and harassment because of sexual orientation unlawful in employment and vocational training. The Government Equalities Office has made a commitment in its business plan for 2009-10 to work in partnership across Government to reduce homophobia in the workplace and to support employers to develop lesbian, gay and bisexual-friendly workplaces.
	The Equality Bill, currently before Parliament, will introduces a public sector equality duty, which will require public bodies to consider lesbian, gay and bisexual employees' needs when carrying out their functions.